First artist to win the Mercury Music Prize twice

Let England Shake, the eighth studio album by British alternative rock singer PJ Harvey, claimed the prestigious Mercury Music Prize on 6 September 2011, making her the only artist to win the award twice in its 20-year history. In 2001, Harvey became the first female to take home the prize with her fifth studio effort, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. The Mercury Music Prize began in 1992. The first winner was Primal Scream’s Screamadelica. Only two other female solo artists have won the award: Ms Dynamite in 2002 (A Little Deeper) and Speech Debelle in 2009 (Speech Therapy). Let England Shake topped the 2011 Music Critic Top 10, compiled by Metacritic.com from 135 music publications’ ‘best of 2011’ lists. Its overall score of 89 points beat Adele’s 21 and Bon Iver’s self-titled album (60 and 57 points, respectively) into second and third place.