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Accepting the award – held in Newcastle for the first time in the 34-year history of the Mercurys – Fender paid tribute to the late Annie Owen who inspired the record's title track. Owen was Fender's friend and mentor, and "a surrogate mother" - and the song was drawn from his thoughts as he travelled to and from her palliative care home. "This region is the best region in the country," he added, to cheers from the hometown crowd.
Introducing Fender as the winner, DJ Sian Eleri commented on People Watching "standing out for its cohesion, character and ambition. It felt like a classic album," said Eleri, "which will take pride of place in record collections for years to come."
Reviewing the record for Best Fit back in February, Steven Loftin wrote "It's in this interspersing of human contact that emerges a figure with a penchant for hooks, sewing them into a patchwork of modern life like few others in the current musical climate. Fender stands taller than ever, retaining his ascension to that oft-compared throne."
People Watching beat out strong competition from the likes of Pulp, FKA Twigs, CMAT and Fontaines D.C. The event - originally created in association with the British Phonographic Industry and British Association of Record Dealers in 1992 as an alternative to the Brit Awards, awards for the best album released by a musical act from the United Kingdom or Ireland and comes with a £25,000 prize for the winner. Last year's winner English Teacher were the first from outside of London since Young Fathers in 2014; since 2010, only three winners have not been from London, with The Guardian reporting that 130 more nominees come from the capital than the next most-shortlisted region since the prize’s inception.
The awards show featured live performances from many of the twelve shortlisted artists, including Emma-Jean Thackray, FKA twigs, Jacob Alon, Joe Webb, Martin Carthy, Pa Salieu, Pulp, Sam Fender and Wolf Alice, who each played one track from their shortlisted album.
Each year, the shortlist is curated by an independent judging panel of music industry professionals including musician Jamie Cullum, DJ Jamz Supernova, BBC Radio 2 and 6 Head of Music Jeff Smith and Times writer Will Hodgkinson.
The 2025 Mercury Prize 12 Albums of the Year are:
CMAT ‘EURO-COUNTRY’
Emma-Jean Thackray ‘Weirdo’
FKA twigs ‘EUSEXUA’
Fontaines D.C. ‘Romance’
Jacob Alon ‘In Limerence’
Joe Webb ‘Hamstrings & Hurricanes’
Martin Carthy ‘Transform Me Then Into A Fish’
Pa Salieu ‘Afrikan Alien’
PinkPantheress ‘Fancy That’
Pulp ‘More’
Sam Fender ‘People Watching’
Wolf Alice ‘The Clearing’
English (US) · 