Raye has won the 2026 Mercury Prize for her show-stopping second album This Music May Contain Hope.

A pop record sprinkled with golden age Hollywood glamour, it beat the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Olivia Dean and Jade to scoop the £25,000 prize.

"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."

It is the first time a pop album has won the coveted prize - which recognises the best British or Irish album of the last 12 months - since M People's Elegant Slumming in 1994.

Speaking to the BBC afterwards, Raye said she'd "poured everything I had" into the record, which features the global hit song Where Is My Husband?

"I made this album not focusing on commercial [success], not focusing on making things cookie-cutter," said the 28-year-old.

"Some of these songs are seven minutes. They're indulgent.…