Sam Fender has won the Mercury Prize 2025 for his third album, People Watching on Thursday (16 October).
The English singer-songwriter was crowned the winner in Newcastle, after being shortlisted against Fontaines DC and Wolf Alice, Irish pop star CMAT, and Britpop icons Pulp.
Judge Sian Eleri called the award-winning album a "classic" piece of work.
Fender, surprised with the result, reacted by saying, "We didn't think we were gonna win anything.”
When asked about how he was celebrating the victory, he said “ I think we're gonna go, I think we're gonna go for a beer.”
“And then I've got four weeks off”, he added.
