Among biggest surprises St. Vincent was voted best female artist over Lorde, the young Kiwi singer though reigned in the pop artist category. Radiohead‘s ‘OK Computer’ took over Prince‘s ‘Purple Rain,’which had been the frontrunner during the last few weeks, and Japanese veteran Ryuichi Sakamoto earned the award for best electronica. Cigarettes After Sex were voted breakthrough artists and Cardi B won the Sound Of 2018 trophy.

Frank Ocean, Father John Misty and The Black Madonna were among the rest of the winners in a scandal-stricken edition hampered by complaints of individual voting manipulation in the Best Live Category which were proved right. In the wake of which, the Academy decided the prize should be shared to honour the hundreds of fans of both Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers paying tribute to the late legend, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds who genuinely voted and would have left in any case the rest of the contenders far behind.