The Rocks 2023 winners revealed

See the full winners list

Kira Mac, Ghost's Tobias Forge, and Andy Copping with Wyatt
Author: Scott ColothanPublished 4th Aug 2023
Last updated 4th Aug 2023

Iron Maiden, Queen's Brian May, Download Festival and Metallica are among the big-name winners of The Rocks 2023.

The Rocks is Planet Rock’s annual celebration of the finest British and international rock music, and it was devised by our very own Wyatt as a direct response to the countless award ceremonies that perennially turn their noses up at our beloved genre.

This year, there were two fan-voted categories – Best New Band and Greatest Album Cover of All Time – and thousands of Planet Rock listeners had their say.

No strangers to Planet Rock’s airwaves, the brilliant Kira Mac triumphed in the Best New Band category ahead of Empyre and Takeaway Thieves.

The Rocks 2023 award

The seminal Ken Kelly painting that adorned Rainbow’s 1976 magnum opus ‘Rising’ was crowned the Greatest Album Cover of All Time ahead of Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ and Iron Maiden’s ‘Somewhere in Time’.

Elsewhere, legendary Queen guitarist Brian May scooped the Rocks Honours award, which recognises artists for their outstanding contribution to rock music.

Sir Brian follows in the hallowed footsteps of previous winners, Heart's Ann Wilson in 2022 and Whitesnake’s David Coverdale in 2021.

You can check out all seven winners at The Rocks 2023 below including Best Album, Best British Band, Best International Band and new category, Extraordinary Contribution to Rock.

The Rocks 2023 full winners list:

Best New Band

WINNER: Kira Mac
2nd place: Empyre
3rd place: Takeaway Thieves

Greatest Album Cover of All Time

WINNER: Rainbow – 'Rising'
2nd place: Pink Floyd – 'The Dark Side of the Moon'
3rd place: Iron Maiden – 'Somewhere In Time'

Best Album

WINNER: Metallica – '72 Seasons'

Best British Band

WINNER: Iron Maiden

Extraordinary Contribution to Rock

WINNER: Download Festival

Best International Band

WINNER: Ghost

Rocks Honours

WINNER: Brian May

The Rocks previous winners:

You can also check out all the winners from the past four years below:

See all the winners from The Rocks 2022

See all the winners from The Rocks 2021

See all the winners from The Rocks 2020

See all the winners from The Rocks 2019

See all the winners from The Rocks 2018

See all the winners from The Rocks 2017

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