Mercury Music Prize 2026 Full Shortlist: Here are all 12 acts up for this year's £25,000 prize - including Suede and Jade
A total of 12 acts are in the running to win the award open to British and Irish artists - and sadly there’s no room for any acts from Scotland.
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, was created in 1992 as an alternative to the Brit Awards and is known for its eclectic mix of musical genres.
The first prize was won by Scottish band Primal Scream for their seminal album ‘Screamadelica’, with other Franz Ferdinand and Young Fathers the only other two acts from north of the border to have won since.
Other acts to have won include Arctic Monkeys, Skepta, Dave, Wolf Alice, Ms. Dynamite, Dizzee Rascal, Klaxons, James Blake, Pulp, Elbow, The xx, Suede, and alt-J.
And last year’s winner was Sam Fender for his album People Watching.
PJ Harvey is the only artist to have won the prize twice – for Let England Shake and Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea.
To be eligible for the prize over 50 per cent of a band’s members must be British or Irish, and submissions are made by record labels.
The shortlist is chosen “based solely on their musical merit and irrespective of how popular or successful an album or act that has been submitted may have been in the previous calendar year”.
Here are the contenders this year:
- Dave – The Boy Who Played the Harp
- Dove Ellis – Blizzard
- Florence + the Machine – Everybody Scream
- JADE – That’s Showbiz Baby!
- Knats – A Great Day In Newcastle
- Kojey Radical – Don’t Look Down
- Nia Archives – Emotional Junglist
- Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving
- Paul McCartney – The Boys of Dungeon Lane
- RAYE – THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE.
- Suede – Antidepressants
- War Child Records – HELP(2)
The winner will be selected by a team of judges, namely AFRODEUTSCHE (Composer, DJ & Radio 3 Unwind & 6 Music Broadcaster), Danielle Perry (Broadcaster (Absolute Radio & Jazz FM) & Musicia), Jamie Cullum (Musician & Radio 2 Broadcaster), Jeff Smith (Head of Music, Radio 2 & 6 Music), Lea Stonhill (Music Programming Consultant), MistaJam (Songwriter, DJ & Broadcaster), Phil Alexander (Creative Director, Kerrang!/Contributing Editor, MOJO), Sian Eleri (Radio 1 Broadcaster & DJ), Sophie Williams (Music Writer & Broadcaster) and Will Hodgkinson (Chief Rock & Pop Critic, The Times).
The winner will be announced at a ceremony at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena on Thursday, October 22.
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