Raye wins the Mercury Prize with This Music May Contain Hope

Raye has won the 2026 Mercury Prize for her show-stopping second album This Music May Contain Hope.

A pop record sprinkled with golden age Hollywood glamour, it beat the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Olivia Dean and Jade to scoop the £25,000 prize.

"I couldn't tell you how grateful I am to be holding this," said Raye, clutching her trophy at Newcastle's Utilita Arena. "I'm shaking, I'm jet-lagged, I'm tired. It's all blurry."

It is the first time a pop album has won the coveted prize - which recognises the best British or Irish album of the last 12 months - since M People's Elegant Slumming in 1994.

Speaking to the BBC afterwards, Raye said she'd "poured everything I had" into the record, which features the global hit song Where Is My Husband?

"I made this album not focusing on commercial [success], not focusing on making things cookie-cutter," said the 28-year-old.

"Some of these songs are seven minutes. They're indulgent. They're maximalist."

Across 17 tracks and 73 minutes, the record tells a cinematic story about a relationship that ends in tears on the rainy streets of Paris, then follows our plucky heroine as she dusts off the debris and emerges stronger and more resilient.

Along the way, it features both of her grandparents, the soul legend Al Green, four separate orchestras and more than 100 musicians.

In the run-up to this year's ceremony, Olivia Dean had been the bookmakers' favourite for her second album, The Art of Loving.

An easy-going, soulful collection of love songs, it had already been named album of the year at the Brit Awards and the Mobos, and is widely expected to earn the singer a Grammy nomination in the same category next month.

Speaking backstage, the singer said she was overwhelmed by the success.

"I don't think I've processed it yet, to be honest," she said. "I feel like I'm still in this crazy whirlwind of it all.

"And maybe, when I take a break over Christmas, I'll reflect on the sofa."

Other nominees included the rapper Kojey Radical, Geordie jazz act Knats, and former Little Mix star Jade - who was the first ever X Factor winner to receive a Mercury nomination.

The shortlist also included the charity compilation album Help (2), recorded in aid of Warchild, which featured new music and cover versions by artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Damon Albarn, Depeche Mode and The Last Dinner Party.

The tracklist also included nine former Mercury Prize winners: Arctic Monkeys, Young Fathers, Wolf Alice, Pulp, Sampha, Portishead's Beth Gibbons, Arlo Parks, English Teacher and Ezra Collective.

Last year, the prize was won by Newcastle singer-songwriter Sam Fender, who donated his £25,000 winnings to grassroots music venues, helping to support up-and-coming songwriters around the UK.