Gruff Rhys

Gruff Rhys

Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys has won the inaugural Welsh Music Prize for his new album Hotel Shampoo.

The singer/songwriter beat artists like Manic Street Preachers and cult acts Funeral For A Friend and The Blackout to claim the new award, which is being billed as his native Wales' equivalent to the Mercury Music Prize.

Accepting the award at Cardiff's Kuku Club on Friday, Rhys said, "Everyone on the list deserved to win, so I am very grateful. I really didn't expect to win."