Mick Jagger said: “It’s very nice to be nominated. When I first heard it was four things, I thought, ‘Ooh, blimey! That’s very nice!’” And it’s not a journalists-only thing, it’s not a coterie of closely-knit people choosing. It’s funny, because when we were rehearsing at Wembley Arena last year, it was where we used to do the NME Pollwinners. We remembered, it was the first time we ever played ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’, at one of those Pollwinners concerts!”

Keith Richards said: “The London shows were a real kick in the pants for us…after being off the road for five years, we were having a ball up there…it was great to play with Bill again, to look round and see the man-mountain there was quite a turn on, and Mick Taylor playing his arse off, it was a real joy to play together again.”

Ronnie Wood said: “It’s great to be nominated by NME for such prestigious categories.  We are all absolutely delighted”