Blur at the BRITs: 1995 - 2012

This year's Outstanding Contribution to Music winners, Blur, are no strangers to The BRIT Awards.

Damon Albarn, Alex James, Graham Coxon and Dave Rowntree have been nominated for BRIT Awards no fewer than 15 times over their 14-year career, but 1995 was the year of Blur at the BRIT Awards. The indie boys took home an impressive four awards at the show, triumphing over Britpop rivals Oasis in two of the categories.

Blur took home the Best British Group award, beating not only Oasis but Eternal, M People and Pink Floyd to the title. They repeated the success in the British Single category as they took the title for 'Parklife' (nominated alongside 'Girls & Boys') against Oasis' hit, 'Whatever'. Blur also took the title of Best British Video for 'Parklife' and MasterCard British Album for 'Parklife'. A huge year for for Blur that was topped off by a performance of their No.5 hit, 'Girls & Boys'.

Blur were also nominated for Best British Group in 1996 and 2000. They picked up another nod for MasterCard British Album in 1996 for 'The Great Escape' - losing out to Oasis' '(What's The Story) Morning Glory' and also in 2004 for 'Think Tank'. The boys were also nominated for Best British Single in 1996 ('Country House'), 1998 ('Song 2') and 2000 ('Tender').

However, it isn't until 2012 that the Blur boys (now very much men) return to the BRITs stage to collect their fifth award, Outstanding Contribution to Music. One of the frontrunners of Britpop, Blur survived the scene and continued recording into the 21st Century. The band split in 2003 but tentatively reformed in 2009 for gigs in London's Hyde Park and a string of festival dates, including a Glastonbury Festival headline slot.

In 2010 Blur released 'Fools Day', their first single in seven years. A limited edition single, fans are still waiting for a follow up - despite teasers from the band that there were plans to record more new music. However, with Blur being honoured at this year's BRIT Awards and a performance in front of millions of fans worldwide, could the time be right for a full return for the fourpiece? We certainly hope so.

For more info on Blur at The BRITs, including videos of their award speeches and pics of the band in action at previous award ceremonies, head on over to their artist page.