Alex Turner BRITs speech 'for those who'd never heard of rock n' roll'

Arctic Monkeys' frontman Alex Turner has spoken out about his controversial speech at last month's BRIT Awards, claiming that it was aimed at those who have 'never heard of rock n' roll'.

The Sheffield rocker divided opinion with his 'that rock n' roll eh?' speech at the BRITs when picking up their award for Best Album for AM - but now he's gone to explain that there no malice intended. 

"It's not aggressive," he told NME at their awards ceremony last week. "It's just about presenting an option that people may or may not know exists. It occurred to me that in that room, or certainly watching it on TV, were people who'd never heard the term 'rock 'n' roll' other than to describe a zip on a Topman jacket."

Turner continued: "I don't see it as a personal victory, but it seems in some way a victory for bands and the idea that you can start a band with your mates and eventually go on to move people or whatever you wanna call it. Using rock'n'roll as the most direct way of illustrating that was kinda what I was trying to do."

Arctic Monkeys will headline Reading and Leeds festival this summer and play two huge gigs at London's Finsbury Park on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 May, 2014.