A quiet year for Radiohead but still 'best act in the world'

2.10pm - By LOUISA JURY

Radiohead were yesterday named best act in the world for the second successive year despite only having released a live album in the past 12 months.

They beat Oasis and U2 to the title at the annual Q magazine awards in London where other honours went to the Liverpool post-punk veterans Echo and the Bunnymen for inspiration and Tom Jones for merit.

Radiohead enjoyed enormous success with their last two studio albums, which even cracked the American market. But the Oxford quintet have spent the past year recording new tracks, appearing in public only for a handful of festival dates.

Thom Yorke, their frontman, who collected the prize with guitarist Ed O'Brien, said such awards made their efforts worthwhile.

"After you've been in the studio, you come out and think, 'Could we have done the most stupid thing we could possibly have done?' Things like this mean a lot to us, otherwise we wouldn't have the confidence to carry on because that's what we're like."

The Q awards are largely voted for by readers, who tend to pride themselves on their musical appreciation. Oasis received the most nominations for awards - three - but won none.

Sugababes beat them to the best single title for the chart-topping "Freak Like Me" and the Swedish punk-pop act, the Hives, beat them to best live act.

The innovation title went to Depeche Mode, best new act to Electric Soft Parade and best video to Pink.

Jimmy Cliff won the classic songwriter honour and best album went to Coldplay for A Rush of Blood to the Head.

Ian McCulloch, of the Echo and the Bunnyman, thanked Coldplay for "putting us back on the map" by featuring them on their album. He clearly relished his moment of glory yesterday, wondering why his band had not won a prize before despite being one of the most influential acts of the past 20 years.

"Cheers, it's not before time," he said, as he accepted his award at the ceremony in Charles Saatchi's former gallery in north London.

Tom Jones said his merit award meant a great deal to him because it was about the music alone.

"You get a lot of awards from magazines but they could be about planning, you know. Last time I was up for a merit award, I was in the Boys Brigade for something like that - and I didn't get it."

- INDEPENDENT