Sam Fender wins Mercury Prize award for album People Watching beating out huge favourite

SAM Fender has won the 2025 Mercury Prize for his album People Watching.

The singer-songwriter, 31, nabbed the trophy and £25,000 cash at the ceremony in his native Newcastle – the first time the awards have been held outside London.

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He won with his third album ahead of a star-studded pack of 12 nominees, including Pulp, Wolf Alice, FKA Twigs, PinkPantheress and Pa Salieu.

Sam was not fancied by the bookies, so his victory is something of a shock, and the crowd went ballistic at his name.

Irish musician CMAT was the runaway favourite with her album EURO-COUNTRY.

The Geordie name-checked fellow nominees during his acceptance speech and thanked an ecstatic crowd.

He said: “We did not expect this at all. I want to say thank you,” before declaring: “This region is the best region in the country.”

Sam then grabbed his guitar and launched into a rendition of his album’s titular track, People Watching.

He also paid tribute to the late actress Annie Orwin, the inspiration behind the song, who he described as like a “surrogate mother”.

Discussing the song with BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders last year, Sam said Annie “always used to complain about me not ever mentioning her” – but this evening he put that right.

Judges said they loved People Watching’s “character and ambition”, adding: “It felt like a classic.”

Backstage after his victory show, Sam told the BBC: “I didn’t think that was going to happen at all. I’ve just spent the last 10 minutes crying.”

He added that his win on home turf was “really, really important” because the music scene in Newcastle has “always been in an isolated bubble”.

Wolf Alice and Pulp have both won the award in the past.

If either of them had taken it home tonight, they would have become just the second act to win it twice, joining PJ Harvey.

Sam was picked as winner by a panel of judges made up of ten music industry heavyweights.

Among them were musician and radio host Jamie Cullan, and DJ Jamz Supernova.

Last year’s winners, Leeds-based rock band English Teacher, were the first act from outside the capital to lift the trophy in 10 years.

This year, there was only one London-based act on the shortlist in Wolf Alice.