Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

After a night of eclectic showpiece performances, Raye has been crowned the 2026 Mercury Prize winner for her album This Music May Contain Hope.

The London-based star received the crown and told the audience she was "grateful" to receive the award.

This year's ceremony - held in Newcastle for the second time - once again recognised the contributions of regional favourites.

Former Little Mix star Jade, nominated for her debut That's Showbiz Baby! nearly blew the roof off with a rendition of pop hit Angel of My Dreams, while jazz group Knats wowed crowds with their twisty tune Wor Jackie featuring local poet Cooper Robson resplendent in a Newcastle United shirt.

Crowds at the arena could also be seen shimmying to Kojey Radical's high-tempo tune Conversation, before mellowing to dark horse Dove Ellis's soaring choruses.

Twelve albums were vying for the prize, but after the performances were over it was Raye - real name Rachel Agatha Keen - whom the independent panel judged to be the pick of the bunch.

The Where is My Husband! singer's career was transformed in 2021 when she cut ties with her record label, and more recently came out swinging with the celebrated album that reflects on overcoming heartbreak and self-doubt.

As Raye celebrates her success, we're bringing our live coverage to a close. Thanks for joining us.

Here's how Raye celebrated her success as she took to the stage to receive the night's award.

She beat 11 other nominees including Jade, Dave and Olivia Dean to take home the trophy and £25,000.

Image source, JMEnternational/Getty Images

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

We've just heard from Mercury Prize winner Raye.

She says she's "speechless" as she speaks to the BBC's music correspondent Mark Savage moments after her win was announced.

"Not many words right now," she says, "just gratitude".

Raye says she couldn't even guess how many hours she put into This Music May Contain Hope, adding: "I really pushed myself and poured everything I had into this body of work."

She says she hoped to veer away from "cookie cutter" tunes and admits that some of the album's tracks - which occasionally reach seven minutes long - are "indulgent" and "maximalist".

She's now off to celebrate her success; but with an eye on a grand performance tomorrow at London's Royal Albert Hall.

"I'm so excited but I need to do some vocal rest," she laughs as she carries her trophy away.

Image source, Getty Images

In Newcastle, the tense wait to find out the winner of the Mercury Prize 2026 is over.

Raye, with her album This Music May Contain Hope, has been crowned the winner.

The Where Is My Husband! singer beat 11 other nominees, including Jade, Dave and Olivia Dean to take home the prize.

The judging team praised "the scale, structure, ambition and sheer charm" of the artist.

Eleanor Doyle
BBC Newsbeat, at the Mercury Prize awards

Knats are dancing away in the artist area.

The crowd are joining in too - there’s a lot of love for Raye's win here.

Raye has been announced as this year's Mercury Prize winner for her album This Music May Contain Hope.

Let's take a look at who's on the independent panel of judges picking tonight's winner:

• Afrodeutsche, composer, DJ and broadcaster for BBC Radio 3 and BBC 6 Music Unwind
• 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
• Jeff Smith, panel chair, and head of music for BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 6 Music

The judges meet today to decide the overall winner, with details of discussions and individual votes kept confidential to "ensure that all members of the judging team are able to express their opinions freely and openly".

Mark Savage
Music correspondent

While we wait for the winner of the Mercury Prize to be announced, here are some of the facts we’ve spotted about this year’s nominees that you can bore your friends with.

• Jade Thirlwall is the first X Factor winner to get a Mercury nomination. The former Little Mixer is shortlisted for her debut solo album, That’s Showbiz, Baby!
• Paul McCartney is the second-oldest nominee in Mercury Prize history. At the age of 84, he’s just a few weeks younger than folk legend Martin Carthy when he was nominated for last year’s prize
• With a 73-minute running time, Raye’s This Music May Contain Hope is the longest single album ever to receive a Mercury nomination. (Double albums by Roni Size and Warchild are longer, though)
• The charity compilation Help (2) features a who’s who of former Mercury nominees – 21 in total, of which 10 have won the prize: Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, Young Fathers, Wolf Alice, Pulp, Sampha, Portishead’s Beth Gibbons, Arlo Parks, English Teacher and Ezra Collective

We've now had live performances in Newcastle from the nominees (some couldn't make it).

Artists including Jade, Olivia Dean and Knats wowed fans with their energy on stage.

Image source, JMEnternational/Getty Images

Image source, JMEnternational/Getty Images

Image source, JMEnternational/Getty Images

Image source, JMEnternational/Getty Images

Eleanor Doyle
BBC Newsbeat, at the Mercury Prize awards

We’ve been watching friends Joe Sutherland and Thomas Atkins reach out for Florence Welch during her performance.

"We go to uni here in Newcastle and we really wanted to see the albums of year. Jade was amazing she’s my favourite," says Joe, 20, adding: "I like the way Florence got the crowd going."

Thomas, 21, says he'd "like to see Olivia Dean or Jade take it [the prize]".

He adds: "I’ve never heard of Suede but they’re getting added straight to the playlist."

Mark Savage
Music correspondent

Image source, Polydor

Florence Welch began working on Everybody Scream after experiencing a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy – and the experience casts a dark shadow over her sixth album.

She questions her devotion to her career, worrying about the physical toll it takes, but ultimately finds catharsis in the primal power of her own voice.

Highest chart position: Number one

• Listen to Florence + The Machine’s One Of The Greats from Everybody Scream on YouTube, external

Mark Savage
Music correspondent, reporting from the Mercury Prize

Wrapping up tonight’s live performances, we have Florence + The Machine, with One Of The Greats - a grungy, sarcastic track from her Mercury nominated album.

Everybody Scream. It’s a song that questions the challenges female artists face in the music industry - and why mediocre men get so much more praise.

Her performance is angrily compelling, as she stalks the stage shooting accusations into the air like poison darts.

What a way to end the show.

Image source, JMEnternational/Getty Images

Eleanor Doyle
BBC Newsbeat, at the Mercury Prize awards

Record producer, DJ, singer and songwriter - Nia Archives does it all.

Her album Emotional Junglist is definitely more grown up, and Nia says she’s feeling "more sexy" with her sound recently.

Speaking to Newsbeat earlier, she said: "I’ve just turned 27 a month ago. I’m talking about grown up topics now. I’m stepping into and owning my womanhood now."

She also says she’s pleased the award looks beyond streaming figures.

"They look at the album as a full piece. Which is amazing."

She told us she’s not expecting to win, but would "hypothetically invest it into [her] label and take them abroad.

"I’d also like to spend it on getting more young people into dance music," she adds.

Image source, JMEnternational/Getty Images

Mark Savage
Music correspondent

Image source, Island

The only dance record on the shortlist, Nia Archives' second album traces the arc of a relationship from the first flush of love to a breakup so ugly that her partner calls the police.

Despite the title, she says "it's not a jungle album [but] an alternative record", that pulls on everything from Bjork's Debut to Pulp's Different Class, while a full live band breathes life into her breakbeats and heartaches.

Highest chart position: 30

• Listen to Nia Archives’ Boys In Blue from Emotional Junglist on YouTube, external

Annabel Rackham
Culture reporter, at the Mercury Prize awards

Our penultimate performance tonight has come from Nia Archives, who brought her signature dance sound to Newcastle this evening, with Boys in Blue from her album Emotional Junglist - which explores both falling in love and breaking up, taking the listener on quite the emotional journey.

There was a rebellious, punk rock feel to the high energy rendition, complete with a pretty rockstar outfit to match.

The Mercury Prize ceremony is well under way, and you can watch a delayed playback featuring tonight's performances.

That's available now on BBC Four and on iPlayer.

A reminder that we'll bring you the result here, before the delayed feed catches up on the channel.

Mark Savage
Music correspondent

Image source, RCA

Freed from the shackles of girl group conformity, Jade Thirlwall threw everything, including the kitchen sink, at her solo debut.

But she romps through the stylistic twists of Angel of my Dreams (electro-dance-opera), Fantasy (sci-fi sex disco) and Midnight Cowboy (catwalk camp) with aplomb, never loosening her grip on a golden vein of pop melody.

Highest chart position: Number three

• Listen to Jade’s Angel Of My Dreams from That's Showbiz Baby! on YouTube, external

Mark Savage
Music correspondent, reporting from the Mercury Prize

Jade had the fastest-selling British debut album of 2025 with That’s Showbiz, Baby! (Exclamation mark compulsory) describing it as a "pop punch to the face".

But tonight she’s playing the slow, orchestral version of the album’s melodramatic opener, Angel of My Dreams.

Or is she? After the harps and strings accompany the opening chorus, a jackhammer beat turns the Utilita Arena into an impromptu race.

A pop album hasn’t won the Mercury since the 1990s, but she’s mounting a pretty good argument for smashing through that roadblock.

And if she takes the trophy, we can all head back to her pub in South Shields for the afterparty.

Eleanor Doyle
BBC Newsbeat, at the Mercury Prize awards

"Go on girl!"

We hear from the crowd as Jade comes to the stage and brings us a cinematic rendition of Angel of My Dreams.

Image source, JMEnternational/Getty Images

Mark Savage
Music correspondent

Image source, Neighbourhood

Introspective and thoughtful, Dave's fourth album drops the bravado of his youth to confront his loss of faith, alcoholism and infidelity.

He describes it as a record that "demands focus" and deliberately avoids hit singles - aside from the sensual, Afrobeats-inspired Raindance.

Highest chart position: Number one

• Listen to Dave’s Raindance from The Boy Who Played the Harp on YouTube, external