Mercury Prize 2026 shortlist revealed: See the 12 nominated albums

30 July 2026, 11:43 | Updated: 30 July 2026, 12:32

Florence + The Machine, Paul McCartney, Suede, Nia Archives and War Child Records are among those shortlisted for a 2026 Mercury Prize. Picture: Autumn de Wilde, Mary McCartney, Press, Press, Lawrence Watson

By Jenny Mensah

The 2026 Mercury Prize Albums Of The Year have been revealed with records from Florence + The Machine, Paul McCartney, Suede, War Child Records and more on the shortlist. See the full 12 albums here. 👇

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The Mercury Prize Albums of the Year has announced its shortlist for 2026.

The prestigious awards, which celebrates the best UK and Irish records of the last year, has named studio efforts from the likes of Florence + The Machine, Paul McCartney, Suede and War Child Records among those up for the honour.

Florence Welch will be recognised for her sixth studio album Everybody Scream, with The Beatles legend's The Boys of Dungeon Lane, Suede's album Antidepressants and the War Child charity compilation HELP 2 also receiving a nod.

Also on the list are the likes of Dave for his third effort The Boy Who Played the Harp, NIA ARCHIVES for Emotional Junglist, Knats for A Great Day In Newcastle, Olivia Dean for The Art of Loving and former Little Mix star JADE for her first solo album THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY!

See the full Mercury Prize shortlist for 2026 below...

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Who are the 2026 Mercury Prize nominees?

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 2026 Mercury Prize albums of the Year shortlisted albums — The 2026 Mercury Prize Albums of the Year shortlisted albums. Picture: Press

Earlier this year,the Mercury Prize ceremony confirmed its return to Newcastle, after it left London for the first time in its history in 2025.

The 2026 awards show will take place on Thursday 22nd October at the Newcastle Utilita Arena and will feature live performances from many of the twelve shortlisted artists with the evening culminating in the crowning of the overall winner and a live encore.

Tickets to the ceremony are available to buy here.

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Each year, the shortlist is curated by an independent judging panel of music industry professionals who are eternally passionate about spotlighting artistic achievement across a range of genres.

The 2025 Mercury Prize judges are*:

AFRODEUTSCHE - Composer, DJ & Broadcaster
Danielle Perry – Broadcaster & Writer
Jamie Cullum - Musician & Broadcaster
Jamz Supernova – Broadcaster & DJ
Jeff Smith - 6 Music Broadcaster and DJ
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
Will Hodgkinson - Chief Rock & Pop Critic, The Times

*The Chair of the judging panel is Jeff Smith, Head of Music, 6 Music & Radio 2

2025 saw Sam Fender take home the Mercury Prize for his third studio album People Watching.

The North Shields singer-songwriter beat out stiff competition from the likes of Fontaines D.C.'s Romance album, Pulp's More, CMAT's EURO-COUNTRY and Wolf Alice's The Clearing, to win the prestigious award in his hometown.