The Icon Award winners New Order look back on an illustrious career at Rolling Stone UK Awards 2024
The band picked up the biggest award of the night at the Roundhouse from Blur’s Alex James
As the second Rolling Stone UK Awards draws to a close, New Order have picked up The Icon Award, supported by Visit West Hollywood, as the final gong of the night.
As announced on Rolling Stone UK previously, the band were being honoured for a fantastic 40-year career in which they have consistently broken new ground.
At the Roundhouse tonight, frontman Bernard Sumner and band members Tom Chapman and Phil Cunningham picked up the award from Blur bassist Alex James.
Accepting the honour, Sumner told a story from decades ago. He remembered: “In 1983, we played a show in New york at the Paradise Garage. It was an amazing nightclub, one of the first major clubs, and had the most fantastic soundsystem. We played ‘Blue Monday’ there, maybe for the first time.
“We were just about to go on to do a soundcheck and Rob Gretton our manager said, ‘You’ve got an interview with Rolling Stone after soundcheck.’ We did soundcheck and then completely ignored him and walked off and did our own thing. Went for a walk round the block and get some food and a beer.
“We came back and we did the show, and it was a really good show. I remembered about the interview with Rolling Stone, and said [to Rob], ‘What happened to the interview with Rolling Stone?’
“He said, ‘Well, the journalist and the photographer turned up, and I told them to fuck off because you were sunbathing on the roof.
“And then that was it from Rolling Stone! We never heard from them again, until tonight! So thank you so much for forgiving us.”
The second annual Rolling Stone UK Awards kicked off earlier tonight with a performance from English Teacher, who delighted with a stunning rendition of ‘You Blister My Paint’ from their Mercury Prize-winning debut album This Could Be Texas. They were followed by performances from JADE and Confidence Man.
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