Raye Wins 2026 Mercury Prize for This Music May Contain Hope

Raye has won the 2026 Mercury Prize for her second album, This Music May Contain Hope. The result was announced on Thursday night, October 22, at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle, where she had performed earlier in the ceremony.

The 28 year old singer songwriter, whose real name is Rachel Agatha Keen, takes the trophy and a prize of 25,000 pounds. The Mercury Prize is given each year to one album from the UK and Ireland, chosen by a panel of music industry figures.

Raye performed I Hate The Way I Look Today, a song from the winning album, during the show. In her speech she talked about why the album format matters to her. "I've always banged on about how much I believe in albums," she said. "I wanted to make seven minute songs. I wanted to go to a big band section 'there', and do strings 'there', and, like, just be really indulgent."

She also spoke about the word in her album title. "Hope is a very cheesy word, you know, especially for us British people," she said. "We don't do that kind of deep stuff like that, but hope is just something that we all need, and music is medicine."

What the judges said

The judging panel praised the record in strong terms. "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 panel said. The judges also praised "the scale, structure, ambition and sheer charm" of the album, and said it would serve as a huge inspiration for years to come.

The album was released in March 2026 and mixes jazz, soul and dance. Its singles include Click Clack Symphony, which features Hans Zimmer, I Know You're Hurting, Nightingale Lane, and Where Is My Husband!.

Second time lucky

This was not Raye's first run at the prize. She was nominated in 2023 for her debut album, My 21st Century Blues, but lost out that year to Ezra Collective. This time she finished ahead of a shortlist of 12 albums.

The other nominees were Dave for The Boy Who Played the Harp, Dove Ellis for Blizzard, Florence and 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 the War Child Records compilation Help (2).

Most of the shortlisted acts performed on the night in Newcastle. Dove Ellis, Florence and the Machine, Jade, Knats, Kojey Radical, Nia Archives, Olivia Dean and Suede all played songs from their nominated albums, and Pulp performed on behalf of the Help (2) compilation. McCartney and Dave were not at the ceremony, and video montages were shown for them instead.

Last year's Mercury Prize went to Sam Fender for People Watching. Raye now joins that list of winners with a record that the judges picked for its size and its range, an album built around big band parts, strings and long songs, made by a singer who had to wait three years between her first nomination and her win.