Pop singer-songwriter CMAT has been awarded the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year for her debut record If My Wife New I’d be Dead. It was selected from a shortlist of ten albums that was announced in January.

The announcement was made during a live ceremony in Vicar Street on 9 March that was hosted by Tracy Clifford and broadcast on RTÉ 2FM. The awards featured performances from a number of the nominees including Anna Mieke, Just Mustard, Aoife Nessa Frances, Pillow Queens and Thumper. 

CMAT will receive a prize of €10,000 funded by the Irish Music Rights Organisation and the Irish Recorded Music Association. The artist released a number of popular singles from the album including ‘I Wanna be a Cowboy, Baby!’, ‘I Don’t Really Care For You’, and ‘No More Virgos’ before releasing the record in April 2022. Last year, she showcased at SXSW, performed across the US and Europe and played two sold-out concerts at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin in December. 

Song of the Year
Also awarded on the night was the prize for Irish Song of the Year, which was presented to pop singer Moncrieff for ‘Warm’. The Song of the Year prize was decided by public vote on the RTÉ and Choice Music Prize websites. Fontaines D.C. were awarded Irish Artist of the Year, singer-songwriter Cian Ducrot was awarded Irish Breakthrough Artist, and Sinéad O’Connor was presented with the Irish Classic Album award for I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (1990). 

The judging panel for the Album of The Year award, chaired by Jim Carroll of RTÉ, included Nadine O’Regan (Business Post), Aoife Woodlock (Other Voices), Shannon McNamee (Journal of Music), Mags Blackburn (Red FM Cork), Christine Costello (Thin Air), Neil Doherty (RTÉ Radio 1), Adam Hogan (RTÉ 2fm), Ed Hughes (KCLR), Lauren Johnson (BBC Northern Ireland), Sophia McDonald (Totally Dublin/Dublin Digital Radio) and Des O’Driscoll (Irish Examiner).

RTÉ2 will broadcast a one-hour TV programme of the RTÉ Choice Music Prize on Thursday 16 March at 10:30pm. 

For further information, visit www.choicemusicprize.ie.

Subscribe to our newsletter.