Raye has won the 2026 Mercury Prize for her second album, This Music May Contain Hope. The prize is worth £25,000.
It honours the best British or Irish album of the past 12 months.
As Raye, 28, accepted the trophy at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena and expressed gratitude for the honour, she admitted she was shaking, jet-lagged and tired, and that it was all blurry.
“I couldn’t tell you how grateful I am to be holding this,” said Raye, clutching her trophy at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena. “I’m shaking, I’m jet-lagged, I’m tired. It’s all blurry.”
The album beat records by Sir Paul McCartney, Olivia Dean and Jade. It is the first pop album to win since M People’s Elegant Slumming in 1994.
The record is a pop album with a touch of golden age Hollywood glamour. It has 17 tracks and runs 73 minutes. It tells a cinematic story. A relationship ends in tears on the rainy streets of Paris. The heroine then picks herself up and grows stronger.
The album features both of Raye’s grandparents, soul legend Al Green, four orchestras and more than 100 musicians. It also includes the global hit “Where Is My Husband?”
The album came out in March. It went straight to the top of the UK charts and won glowing reviews.
However, it almost never happened. Two years ago, her car was stolen with all her songwriting notebooks and demos inside. They were later recovered, but the theft delayed the album by almost a year.
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