Raye wins 2026 Mercury Prize for This Music May Contain Hope album

Raye has won the 2026 Mercury Prize for her album This Music May Contain Hope, beating rivals including Paul McCartney, Olivia Dean and Galway-born indie singer-songwriter Dove Ellis.

Her second album came out in March, debuted at number one in the UK charts and includes the singles Click Clack Symphony (featuring Hans Zimmer), I Know You’re Hurting, Nightingale Lane and Where Is My Husband.

The singer beat fellow nominees such as rapper Dave, Florence + the Machine and Suede. The result was announced at a ceremony in Newcastle, the second successive year it has been held in the city.

The prize, created in 1992, is awarded each year to the best album by an artist from the UK or Ireland.

In his five-star review of Blizzard in The Irish Times, Ed Power described the album from Dove Ellis as “urgent and stubborn, full of sharp edges and illuminated throughout by a refusal to compromise”.

[ Dove Ellis: Blizzard review – Thank heavens for awkward outsiders, and for this luminescent Irish albumOpens in new window ]

Albums are nominated based on musical merit, irrespective of how successful the record or act have been in the year.

Sam Fender won last year’s prize for his album People Watching.

Along with a trophy, the winner receives almost €30,000 in prize money. – PA