Last night was the 16th edition of the annual Music Victoria Awards - a night honouring Victoria’s best acts, albums, songs and musicians of the past 12 months.
Co-presented by PBS and RRR, this year’s Awards were held as part of the Melbourne Music Week - Extended program at the Melbourne Recital Centre, as well as being livestreamed and broadcast on Channel 31. MC’d by beloved community radio presenters Lyndelle Wilkinson and Chris Gill, the evening featured live performances by Alice Skye, Elizabeth, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and Simona Castricum.
Did you miss the awards? You can watch the livestream back here.
You can find the full list of winners below, but it would be remiss of us not to mention that PBS favourite Sampa The Great continued her reign of 2020, taking home four awards: Best Album, Best Solo Artist, Best Soul, Funk, Gospel or RnB Album and Best Song (for her hit single ‘OMG’). Pub rock larrikins Amyl and The Sniffers took home three awards for Best Band and Best Live Act, with the Best Musician gong going to their vocalist Amy Taylor.
The event also saw Australian music icon Paul Kelly induct the late, great Chris Wilson into the Music Victoria Hall Of Fame, presenting a touching speech and inviting Chris’ wife Sarah Carroll and sons Fenn Wilson and George Carroll Wilson to the stage to accept the induction. Kim Salmon and Jo Roberts presented fellow Hall of Fame Inductee Mary Mihelakos with her official induction to celebrate her extensive and prolific industry career.
The Music Victoria Awards provides an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of artists from around the state, and the list of winners proves that there is a lot to celebrate! We can only imagine what 2021 will bring.
Music Victoria Awards 2020 - full list of winners
Public voted winners
Best Album
Sampa The Great − The Return
Best Band
Amyl and The Sniffers
Best Song
Sampa The Great − OMG
Best Solo Artist
Sampa The Great
Best Musician
Amy Taylor (Amyl and The Sniffers)
Best Breakthrough Act
Pinch Points
Best Live Act
Amyl and The Sniffers
Industry-voted winners
Best Regional/Outer Suburban Act
The Teskey Brothers (Warrandyte)
Archie Roach Foundation Award for Emerging Talent
Kee’ahn
Best Blues Album
Lloyd Spiegel − Cut and Run
Best Country Album
Tracy McNeil & The GoodLife − You Be The Lightning
Best Electronic Act
Sleep D
Best Experimental or Avant-garde Act
Robin Fox
Best Folk Album
Fiona Ross & Shane O'Mara − Sunwise Turn
Best Heavy Album
Diploid − Glorify
Best Hip Hop Act
Birdz
Best Intercultural Act
Black Jesus Experience
Best Jazz Album
Vanessa Perica Orchestra − Love is a Temporary Madness
Best Reggae and Dancehall Act
Dub FX
Best Rock/Punk Album
Cable Ties − Far Enough
Best Soul, Funk, Gospel or RnB Album
Sampa The Great − The Return
Listen to the winners on Music Victoria Awards Spotify playlist: