According to NME, British singer Raye has been announced as the winner of the Mercury Prize 2026. This year’s edition of the annual awards show took place at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle and the event was hosted by BBC Radio 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne.
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In order for her to win the prize, Raye had to beat the competition from other shortlisted records by Paul McCartney, JADE, Nia Archives, Dave, Suede, Florence + The Machine, Olivia Dean, Knats, Dove Ellis, and Kojey Radical, along with the War Child ‘Help(2) compilation album. “First of all, I cannot tell you how grateful I am to be holding this,” she said from the stage after collecting the prize. “I’m shaking, I’m jetlagged, I’m tired, I’m grateful, it’s all blurry.”
The artist added: “I’ve always banged on about how much I believe in albums. Albums are so important. And not to be bitter, because I feel like I’m mostly at peace with my past, you know? But to come from place where it’s all about singles and chasing the next thing, I just feel so grateful to be recognized.” What Raye was referring to in the speech was her previous record label battles.
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