Stormzy hailed “a very crazy year” as he accepted the gong for best solo artist at the Q Awards.
The grime star, 26, admitted he had failed to prepare a speech because he was sure he would not win, before telling the crowd at Camden’s Roundhouse on Wednesday: “I’m very nervous right now.”
After a pause, he added: “Thank you very much. This means a lot to me. It’s been a very crazy year for myself and my team and my family. I am kind of lost for words. I wasn’t expecting to win anything.”
The Q award for BEST SOLO ARTIST goes to @stormzy pic.twitter.com/nVYpVT2uMr
— Q Magazine (@QMagazine) October 16, 2019
He also credited his faith, saying: “Throughout everything I always say I thank God. I am a man of God. I have got a lot of faith in God.
“It’s carried me here. My team… Q Awards… you have carried me here.”
Primal Scream singer Bobby Gillespie handed him the prize, congratulating him for putting “his money where his mouth is” by criticising the Government over its response to the Grenfell fire.
No artist won more than a single gong at this year’s edition of the annual event, with grime the biggest winner of the night.
Rapper and Top Boy actress Little Simz took home the best vocal award while Kano secured the outstanding contribution to music award for pioneering the grime scene.
Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi won the best track prize.
Accepting the award for his song Someone You Loved, he told the audience: “As (Q magazine editor) Ted said at the beginning, music isn’t a competition. But I f***ing won.”
Foals secured the gong for best album for Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost (Part 1).
Taking to the stage, lead singer Yannis Philippakis said: “This record was made on a diet of the times – confusion and anxiety.
“We wanted it to be a mirror. And hopefully it is that if you listen to it.”
He then quipped: “And it’s nice not to be the only ones to have underestimated our genius.”
The 1975 won the award celebrating the best act in the world today, crowning a year in which they headlined Reading and Leeds festivals and won two gongs at the Brit Awards.
Song of the decade went to pop star Lana Del Rey for Video Games, her melancholic break-out hit from 2011.
In a video message she thanked the fans that voted for her in the public poll.
A total of 18 awards were handed out at the ceremony, which saw singer-songwriter Nadine Shah become the first female artist to host the Q Awards.
Her third album Holiday Destination – a political record which contains songs about the refugee crisis – was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize.
The awards, in association with Absolute Radio, featured seven prizes voted for by the public, as well as merit awards bestowed by Q Magazine on the night.
Michael Kiwanuka, Dizzee Rascal, Anna Calvi, Madness and Christine And The Queens were also among those honoured.
And Biffy Clyro, Anne-Marie, Jarvis Cocker, Rose McGowan and Ella Eyre were among those presenting awards.