NME unveils oldest ever 'cool' list as even Keith Richards makes the grade

Last updated at 16:43 07 November 2007

It's good news for those who want to age disgracefully - NME has unveiled its oldest ever Cool List.

Every year the music magazine compiles the top 50 names of the people it deems cool.

Younger stars, this time represented by Amy Winehouse, 24, Kate Nash, 20, and Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, 21, are still in the top 10.

But the 2007 NME list is the oldest ever, with the total age of all the "cool" names coming to a grand total of 1,389.

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Ageing rocker Keith Richards, 63, has moved up 16 places to number 10

The names are topped by British tattooed singer Frank Carter, the frontman of punk band Gallows.

The 23-year-old's on-stage antics have included being tattooed live on stage and requiring immediate hospital attention after diving into a monitor.

Kate Nash, 20, is ranked seventh

But a selection of older figures have sneaked on to the list, after being absent last year, making middle-age cool.

They include Ian Brown, the 44-year-old former lead singer of the Stone Roses, Oasis star Noel Gallagher, aged 40, and US singer Prince, aged 49.

Keith Richards, aged 63, has risen 16 places to number 10 after he appeared to confess to having snorted his father's ashes.

Radiohead star Thom Yorke, aged 40, is also in the list, at number 12.

Worryingly for anti-drugs campaigners, singer Winehouse has risen from 50 to number eight in the same year as her addictions have spun out of control.

Shocking pictures emerged earlier this year of the singer with a bruised neck and bloodied ballet pumps just weeks after she was rushed to hospital following a near lethal drugs overdose.

The Back to Black singer claimed her husband Blake Fielder-Civil saved her life by stopping her doing drugs with a prostitute.

Winehouse, who quit rehab this year for a second time, was arrested in Norway last month for possession of marijuana.

NME magazine said the "queen of cool has kept her beehive in place" throughout it all.

It said her "interesting year has been a hedonistic mix of award wins, drug overdose stories and a string of sold-out dates.

"But throughout it all the queen of cool has kept her beehive in place while the rest of us marvel and wondered what next."

While Winehouse climbs up the top 50, Pete Doherty is no longer the coolest person in his band Babyshambles.

The singer and ex of supermodel Kate Moss has slipped to number 34 from number one two years ago.

His bandmate Drew McConnell is 13th in this year's list.

Jamie Reynolds of the Klaxons takes second place, followed by Lovefoxxx - the Brazilian lead singer of CSS - and Ryan Jarman, the guitarist from Wakefield band The Cribs.

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Eighties icon Prince is at number 14

Rapper Lethal Bizzie, who has collaborated this year with the likes of the Arctic Monkeys and Babyshambles, is fifth.

The alternative "uncool" list features Hard Fi's Richard Archer, the Sugababes and reality TV star Donny Tourette.

NME editor Conor McNicholas said: "Thirty years after the height of punk there are a whole load of new bands making wild and passionate noise.

"But it takes more than just great music to make it to the top of the Cool List - these people effortlessly set trends with every breath they take - and it's great to see that people like Keith Richards prove that you don't have to be young to do this."

The average age of rockers in the top 50 has crept up from 23 to 27.

Deputy editor Krissi Murison said: "The Top 50 people in the NME Cool List 2007 have an average age of 27 - the oldest that average has ever been.

"It's certainly been a good year for elder statesmen of rock: Nicky Wire's band Manic Street Preachers made their best album since their early '90s heyday, Prince played 21 nights of the greatest Greatest Hits set the NME office unanimously agreed they'd ever seen, while Keith Richards revealed he'd, er, snorted his father.

"That's not to say it's been a quiet year for new music though - of the 50 people in the list, a whopping 25 are fresh faces."