Image: Ben Houdijk (via Shutterstock)
Raye has won the 2026 Mercury Prize. The British singer-songwriter took home the UK’s most prestigious album award on Thursday night (October 22) for her second studio album, This Music May Contain Hope, at a ceremony at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena hosted by BBC Radio 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne.
She topped a shortlist that included Paul McCartney, Olivia Dean, Florence + The Machine, Dave, Suede, JADE, Nia Archives, Kojey Radical, Knats, Dove Ellis and War Child’s Help(2) compilation. The award comes with a £25,000 prize.
Visibly emotional, Raye told the crowd she was “shaking” and “jetlagged,” and said she felt grateful to be recognised as an album artist in an industry obsessed with singles. She spoke about wanting to make seven-minute songs with big band sections and strings, and summed up the record in one line: “Hope is just something that we all need. Music is medicine.”
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Earlier in the night she performed the jazzy “I Hate The Way I Look Today,” and after her name was called she returned to close the ceremony with it.
Backstage, she called the win “the best birthday present I could have asked for.” Raye turns 29 on Saturday (October 24). “I just feel seriously seen,” she added.
Released independently on March 27 through her own label, Human Re Sources, This Music May Contain Hope is a 17-track, 73-minute record featuring Hans Zimmer on “Click Clack Symphony” and Al Green on “Goodbye Henry.” It debuted at No. 1 in the UK, her first chart-topping album there, and lead single “Where Is My Husband!” became her second UK No. 1 and peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Critics backed it too, with an 87 on Metacritic.
It was Raye’s second Mercury nomination. In 2024 she made history at the BRIT Awards with six wins in a single night, a record, and this year she headlined Reading & Leeds.
The celebrations continue straight away: the night after her win, she plays the album in full with an orchestra at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
