Raye Wins 2026 Mercury Prize

Raye has won the 2026 Mercury Prize for This Music May Contain Hope. The award recognizes one album from the UK and Ireland every year with a panel of music industry figures determining its recipient. The award comes with a £25,000 prize.

The panel praised "the scale, structure, ambition, and sheer charm" of Raye's album, noting, "Raye displays real imagination and scope in showing what an album can be, going beyond any one style or genre to realise her vision. The judges agreed that Raye’s superb album will serve as a huge inspiration for years to come."

This year's other nominees were Dave for The Boy Who Played The Harp, Dove Ellis for Blizzard, Florence + The Machine for Everybody Scream, Jade for That’s Showbiz, Baby!, Knats for A Great Day In Newcastle, Kojey Radical for Don’t Look Down, Nia Archives for Emotional Junglist, Olivia Dean for The Art Of Loving, Paul McCartney for The Boys Of Dungeon Lane, Suede for Antidepressants, and various artists for the War Child compilation Help(2).

The ceremony took place at Utilita Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK with performances from the nominees. Last year's Mercury Prize went to Sam Fender for People Watching.

As the BBC notes, the judges on this year's panel included the following: Afrodeutsche (composer, DJ, BBC Radio 3 and Radio 6 broadcaster), Danielle Perry (broadcaster and musician), Jamie Cullum (musician and BBC Radio 2 broadcaster), Lea Stonhill (music programming consultant), MistaJam (songwriter, DJ, and broadcaster) Phil Alexander, (creative director at Kerrang! and contributing editor for Mojo), Sian Eleri (BBC Radio 1 broadcaster and DJ), Sophie Williams (music writer and broadcaster), Will Hodgkinson (chief rock and pop critic for The Times), and Jeff Smith (head of music for BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 6 Music).

Raye was among the night's performers, singing the jazzy "I Hate The Way I Look Today." Watch her performance below.

Raye is set to make her acting debut in Yann Demange's thriller Lineage. Hopefully the Mercury panel heard the final mix of her album.