Mercury Prize celebrated musicians in our alumni community
This October, the Mercury Prize is coming to Newcastle – the first time the awards have ever been held outside of London in its 30-year history. In this blog, meet the musicians from Newcastle University who have been recognised by the Prize over the years.
3 September 2025
In honour of the Mercury Prize being held at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle next month, we’d like to introduce you to alumni who have had their musical talents recognised by the award since it was established in 1992.
The 2025 Mercury Prize is taking over Tyneside on 16 October, with the best of UK and Irish music descending on our city to celebrate 12 ‘Albums of the Year’. It is the first time, in the awards’ 33-year history, that the ceremony hasn’t been held in London.
Open to all genres of music, the prize recognises and celebrates artistic achievement, provides a snapshot of the year in music and helps introduce new albums to a wider audience.
The shortlist of the 12 albums of the year is set to be announced next week (10 September 2025), with all shortlisted artists receiving a specially commissioned ‘Album of the Year’ trophy. The overall winner will go on to receive a winner trophy and a cash prize of £25,000 at the ceremony in Newcastle’s Utilita Arena next month.
To mark this momentous occasion for the music scene in the North East, read on to meet some of the legendary artists from our alumni community who have been honoured by the Mercury Prize over the years.
Sting
Gordon Sumner CBE, known as Sting, was the frontman, principal songwriter and bassist for new wave band the Police from 1977 until their breakup in 1986. He launched a solo career in 1985 and in 1993 was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize for his fourth studio album, Ten Summoner’s Tales. He sadly lost out to the self-titled debut album by Suede.
The following year, Ten Summoner’s Tales was nominated for six Grammys, winning Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ("If I Ever Lose My Faith in You") and Best Long Form Music Video.
In spring 2006, Sting returned to his hometown of Newcastle as he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music by Newcastle University.
Maxïmo Park
Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band, formed in 2000 by Newcastle University graduates Paul Smith (BA Hons Art History and English Linguistics, 2001; MA History of the Americas, 2002), Archis Tiku (MBBS, 2000), Lukas Wooller (BA Hons Combined Studies, 1999) and Tom English (BA Hons Combined Honours, 2001), along with Northumbria Fine Art alumnus Duncan Lloyd.
Today, Paul, Duncan and Tom are still members of the band (Archis left in 2014 and Lukas in 2019), and in total they have released eight studio albums. It was for their debut album A Certain Trigger that they were nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2005, losing out to Anthony and the Johnsons’ I Am a Bird Now. A Certain Trigger peaked at 15th on the UK Albums Chart.
Kaiser Chiefs
Indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs were also nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2005, for their debut album Employment. The album enjoyed critical and commercial success with over three million copies sold, won the band three Brit Awards, including the award for Best British Group, and a NME award for Best Album. Employment was bookies’ favourite to take home the top prize, but in the end it went to Anthony and the Johnsons.
Kaiser Chiefs keyboardist Nick "Peanut" Baines is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from Newcastle University, completing his studies with us in 2000. Nick is still part of the band today, with their eighth studio album released in 2024.
Rachel Unthank and the Winterstet
Class of 2007 graduate and fiddle player Niopha Keegan joined Rachel Unthank and the Winterstet (now known as The Unthanks) after she completed her Folk Music degree and featured on the band’s second album, The Bairns. It was nominated for the Best Album award at the 2008 BBC Folk Awards and was also nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize, but the prize eventually went to Elbow’s The Seldom Seen Kid.
Niopha is still part of The Unthanks today, playing violin and viola as well as providing vocals. The group are known and celebrated for their eclectic approach in combining traditional English folk, particularly Northumbrian folk music, with other musical genres.
Field Music
Sunderland-based band Field Music, consisting of brothers and Newcastle alumni David Brewis (BSc Mathematics, 2001) and Peter Brewis (MMus Music, 2009) were shortlisted for the 2012 Mercury Prize for their fourth studio album, Plumb.
The judges for the prize described the album as "playful harmonies, quirky rhythms, the stop start sounds of everyday life, love and daydreams in today's British city – gripping and affecting", but in the end the 2012 Prize went to Alt-J.
Over the years, Field Music has also featured members from The Futureheads (who Peter used to play drums for alongside fellow Newcastle graduate Ross Millard) and Maxïmo Park (another Newcastle alumni band!). Field Music have released eight studio albums and found an unlikely fan and champion in Prince in 2015, when the music icon tweeted a link to the band’s then-newly released single "The Noisy Days Are Over".
Lanterns On the Lake
While not officially a part of our alumni community, we’d like to include an honorary mention to Lanterns on the Lake, which features Newcastle University colleagues Bob Allan and Hazel Wilde.
The band were nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2020 for their fourth studio album, Spook the Herd, which was released after a four-year break. Alumni may recognise their songs from the 2020 BT Sport Champions League coverage, or from the theme tune to BBC’s Uncanny. Sadly, Lanterns on the Lake weren’t awarded the top prize, with it going to Michael Kiwanuka instead.
