British singer-songwriter Sam Fender has won the Mercury Prize 2025 for his third album People Watching, beating competition from Irish artists CMAT and Fontaines D.C.
North Shields-born Fender was previously nominated for Seventeen Going Under in 2022.
Accepting the award, Fender thanked the other nominees, saying "we're in great company".
He dedicated his prize to Annie Orwin, his late friend and mentor who the album’s title track is about.
"I want to just say thank you because I never did to the person, the song that People Watching is about," Fender said, becoming emotional.
"I want to dedicate it to Annie Orwin who’s up there. That’s all I’ve got thank you, and I love, this region is the best region in the country."
At the winner's news conference later, he told reporters how surprised he was at being given the judges' nod, saying: "We didn’t think we were going to win anything, so I am still in shock."
"There’s a million things I could have said, I genuinely can’t think now.
Lauren Laverne hosted the awards ceremony, which recognises the best British or Irish album of the year, at Newcastle's Utilita Arena on Thursday evening, marking the first time the event has been held outside London.
Judge Sian Eleri revealed the 31-year-old had won after performances from a number of the nominees including FKA Twigs and Martin Carthy.
Eleri said: "After much hard discussion we decided on one album that stood out for its cohesion, character and ambition.
"It felt like a classic album, one that will take pride of place in record collections for years to come."
The winner of the 2025 Mercury Prize is...
— Mercury Prize (@MercuryPrize) October 16, 2025
Sam Fender – 'People Watching' 🏆🎸 #MercuryPrize pic.twitter.com/SfAwMwMN7F
CMAT, whose real name is Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, was nominated for her acclaimed album Euro-Country.
She was previously nominated in 2024 for her second album Crazymad, For Me.
Post-punks Fontaines D.C. were nominated for their fourth album Romance, having previously been nominated in 2019 for their debut album Dogrel.
Pulp, Wolf Alice, FKA Twigs, PinkPantheress, Pa Salieu, Emma-Jean Thackray, Jacob Alon, Joe Webb, and Martin Carthy completed the 12 artist shortlist.
Read more: CMAT says Irish music success comes from 'generation of traumatised people'
The awards were judged this year by a panel including jazz star Jamie Cullum, DJ Jamz Supernova, and The Times' pop and rock critic Will Hodgkinson, and were chaired by Radio 2 head of music Jeff Smith.
The Mercury Prize has been running since 1992 when it was won by Primal Scream's Screamadelica, and aims to champion the album format as well as new music in the UK and Ireland across an eclectic range of genres.
Last year, four-piece indie band English Teacher won the prize for their debut album This Could Be Texas.
