P.J. Harvey

An acclaimed performer in alternative rock circles for over two decades, P.J. Harvey delivered intense, sonically bruising mediations on sex, love and desire over the course of a storied career that brought her two Mercury Prizes and the admiration of millions of fans. Brought up on a diet of the blues, Harvey brought the genre's brawn and bravado to her early work, including such hit records as Dry (1991) and Rid of Me. She soon shifted away from blues-rock for a more complex mix of rock and electronica with To Bring You My Love (1995), and would frequently change musical direction over the next five albums and 15 years. Harvey moved freely from electronica to straight-ahead rock and then to a curious blend of piano and autoharp on 2009's White Chalk before blending all of these sounds for her 2011 album, Let England Shake. Arguably the most critically praised record of her career, it made her the only artist to receive two Mercury Prizes, and cemented her status as one of rock's most inventive and eclectic figures.