Raye wins 2026 Mercury Prize for This Music May Contain Hope
Raye has won the 2026 Mercury Prize for her album This Music May Contain Hope, The Guardian reported on 22 October. The award was presented at the ceremony that evening at Newcastle's Utilita Arena.
The album is Raye's second studio album, meaning a full-length record rather than a single or mixtape. It was released in March 2026 on the Human Re Sources label and went to No 1 on the UK charts. Raye, born Rachel Keen in west London, had earlier released the single "Where Is My Husband!", which reached No 1 in the UK and No 6 in the US.
The Mercury Prize is awarded each year to the best British or Irish album, as chosen by a panel of music industry figures. The winner receives £25,000. Lauren Laverne was announced as the host of this year's ceremony.
This year's shortlist of 12 albums included several well-known names. Paul McCartney was nominated for The Boys of Dungeon Lane, his first nomination for the prize. Suede's Antidepressants, Dave's The Boy Who Played the Harp, Florence + the Machine's Everybody Scream and Olivia Dean's The Art of Loving were also among the albums revealed as nominees. Florence + the Machine have now been nominated five times without winning, which puts them level with Radiohead as the joint-highest nominees never to take the prize.
The ceremony has been held in Newcastle since 2025, when the prize moved there from London. The most recent winner before Raye was Sam Fender, who took the award in Newcastle in 2025. Earlier winners include Suede, who won in 1993 for their self-titled debut, and Dave, who won in 2019 for Psychodrama.
