Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner appeared at the Music Week Awards to honour the band’s manager Ian McAndrew on May 8th in London.
The ceremony was held at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House London on Park Lane and was hosted by Jamz Supernova. Other notable winners included XL Recordings, which was crowned ‘Independent Record Company of the Year’, and BBC 6 Music, which was named ‘Best Radio Station’.
McAndrew was celebrated with ‘The Strat’, which Turner presented to him. “Please put your hands together for your 2025 Music Week Strat Award winner, the one and only, Mr Ian McAndrew,” Turner said in his introduction.
The music manager is the CEO and founder of Wildlife Entertainment, which McAndrew established in 1989. Their current list of clients includes Arctic Monkeys, Fontaines DC, Royal Blood, Kae Tempest, Willie J Healey and Wunderhorse.
In his speech, McAndrew reflected: “My journey in music management started here, at the Grosvenor House Hotel. It was 1989 and I was 22 years old, and I was invited to attend the Ivor Novello Awards. George Michael, Dire Straits, the Bee Gees, Paul McCartney – they were all here being honoured. But also here, wafting around the room like modern-day emperors, were the moguls, the hitmakers. This was the music business. I was curious, I was fascinated and I was inspired.”
He continued: “Standing here 35 years later, I still feel curious, I still feel fascinated and I’m still inspired. But I’m also grateful. I’m grateful to those songwriters and artists who place their trust in us. It’s a huge privilege to serve and represent them.”
Elsewhere in his speech, McAndrew revealed he is “calling on this community to join us in supporting War Child with the release of a new album”, which will be produced by James Ford. The list of artists set to contribute to the record is yet to be revealed.
Arctic Monkeys’ last album, The Car, arrived in 2022, and the band have not performed live since the conclusion of their tour in Dublin in late 2023.
A post shared by Music Week (@musicweekinsta)