Please Enjoy Kylie Minogue Reading Nick Cave’s Beautiful Fuck You To The MTV Awards
"My music is unique and individual and exists beyond the realms inhabited by those who would reduce things to mere measuring. I am in competition with no-one."
On the 21st of October, 1996, shortly after the release of his record Murder Ballads, Nick Cave wrote a now-legendary letter to MTV.
He was in contention at the MTV Awards for Best Male Artist. But the nature of that competition — and artistic competitions generally — irked the man. He wasn’t comfortable with the idea that his albums be ranked or awarded in such a way. And so he told MTV precisely that.
“To all those at MTV,” his letter begins. “I feel that it’s necessary for me to request that my nomination for best male artist be withdrawn and furthermore any awards or nominations for such awards that may arise in later years be presented to those who feel more comfortable with the competitive nature of these award ceremonies.
“I myself, do not. I have always been of the opinion that my music is unique and individual and exists beyond the realms inhabited by those who would reduce things to mere measuring. I am in competition with no-one.
“My relationship with my muse is a delicate one at the best of times and I feel that it is my duty to protect her from influences that may offend her fragile nature.”
Basically, in his naturally verbose style, Cave rallied against not just the MTV awards, but awards generally, and the strange, competitive ways that the industry measures up performers against one another. The letter is a work of art, one that Cave performed himself at an event for Letters of Note, years later.
And hey, if you thought such a thing couldn’t be topped, then I present to you this: Kylie Minogue, frequent collaborator of Nick Cave, reading the letter aloud, in full.
Truly, Cave is one of our most singular artists, whether he’s singing a song about murder, or taking on MTV. Bless him.