U2 were hailed as 'god-like geniuses' at the NME awards in London today.
"They have impeccable taste", lead singer Bono said after fans of the New Musical Express (NME) picked the rock legends for two awards - God-like Genius and Best Rock Act.
Bono has been sharply critical of the manufactured pop bands who rise and fall with monotonous regularity in the charts and he was the first to admit that U2 had paid the penalty as their latest single was kept from the number one slot by the fledgling girl-band Atomic Kitten.
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"Atomic Kitten live on the pop charts. We live some place else. We took the piss out of pop and now pop has bitten us in the arse", Bono told reporters before the band got their awards from NME.
NME founded the British hit parade almost half a century ago and have been giving awards to everyone from the Beatles to Nat King Cole since 1953.
The awards are chosen by the fans of the magazine and NME editor Mr Ben Knowles said: "This is an awards ceremony that means something. It is voted for by the most discerning and intelligent music fans on the planet".
Bono, who revealed that he would now like to go into pop management, reflected that the millennium had certainly been kind to U2.
Later this month the band are being given a lifetime achievement award at the Brit Awards, Britain's answer to the Grammys, in one of the world's most influential record markets.
The big winners of the evening were Coldplay who collected three awards for Best New Artist, Best Single and Best Session of the Year.
All Saints may be awash with rumours that they are about to break up but they walked away with the Best Pop Act award.
Eminem, who starts a British tour on Thursday, was picked by the fans as the Best Hip Hop/Rap act.
Pop music has been enlivened over the last three years by the rivalry between Liam Gallagher of Oasis and flamboyant rock star Robbie Williams who trade insults at every opportunity.
The NME fans decided that they both merited awards in the year 2001 - Gallagher was voted hero of the year and Robbie Williams was voted villain of the year.
Reuters