BBC Radio 6 Music announces its Artists of the Year 2025

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Nick Grimshaw has revealed 6 Music’s Artists of the Year 2025 on his Breakfast Show (weekdays, 7-10am).

Announced each November, the list features a mix of established and break-through acts who have dominated 2025.

The 6 Music Artists of the Year 2025 are (in alphabetical order): Blood Orange, CMAT, Deftones, Ethel Cain, FKA twigs, Geese, Jacob Alon, jasmine.4.t, Kae Tempest, Maruja, Pulp and Turnstile.

Blood Orange says: “6 Music! Thank you so much for your continued support of my music and latest album, Essex Honey. It’s inspired by my experience growing up in Essex and all the music I loved while growing up, so the support back home means a lot.”

CMAT says: “I am very happy to be one of 6 Music’s Artists of the Year!! Thanks to everyone in 6 for the support on EURO-COUNTRY. Now that I am wisdom tooth-free, I can’t wait to play these songs live x x”

Deftones’ Chino Moreno says: “I just want to tell you how excited we are for being honoured as one of 6 Music’s Artists of the Year, it’s awesome. It’s been a great year for us making this record, we put a lot of work into it and we are stoked that people seem to be taking to it.”

FKA twigs says: “I’m really grateful to be one of 6 Music’s Artists of the Year. I’ve been doing this a while now, so it’s amazing to have a career that’s still growing – to still get to play shows, make music videos, have ideas, share them and for all that to be received well.”

Cameron Winter from Geese says: “I want to say how grateful we are for being included on 6 Music’s list of good music. The support from the station has been very nice and of course from the listeners at home too. We love you very much, thank you.”

Jacob Alon says: “Holy moly! It’s a blessing and an honour to be on 6 Music’s Artists of the Year list <3 I am so happy that you have found something to love in my music. In fact, I want you to know the scale of my gratitude for all your support of me on 6 Music up until now: imagine a cashew. Imagine every cashew you’ve ever eaten. Imagine every cashew currently ripe and uneaten in the world. Imagine every cashew that has ever existed in the past and that will ever exist in the future. Imagine a distant galaxy where the laws of physics are such that the nucleus of every atom is cashew-shaped – and all of matter and space and time is rearranged into one giant cashew. Now imagine you’re allergic to nuts and you’ve just eaten all those cashews. Your support feels like the opposite of that. ❤️‍🩹I have so much love and respect for everything you do for the world of alternative music. I doubt I’d be where I am without you. All my love, angels. Cob xxx”

jasmine.4.t says: “I can’t believe I am one of the 6 Music artists of the year! Thank you so much for choosing me – this means the world. It’s just over a year since my first 6 Music play, so coming this far so quickly is really wild to me. Thank you for all of your support.”

Kae Tempest says: “So happy to be included in 6 Music’s Artists of the Year. Had such a good time making this record and have had so many beautiful encounters with people who’ve connected with it in one way or another. Thanks 6 Music for spreading the word.”

Maruja say: “This is such a huge honour and privilege for us, to be recognised as an artist of the entire year, by the revered likes of 6 Music – it’s what we’ve always dreamed about. You have helped elevate us to that higher plane, and for that, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are blessed to have the greatest team and the greatest fans in the world supporting us – we would not be here without you all. All the love, Maruja.”

Pulp say: “6 Music is Pulp’s favourite radio station: that’s why we chose to have the first play of “Spike Island” on Lauren’s show back in April. So, it’s fantastic to be named as a “6 Music Artist of the Year” – you love us back! This could be the start of a beautiful friendship……”

Turnstile say: “THANK U 6 MUSIC MANCHESTER WE’LL SEE YOU TONIGHT.”

Cam Pia, 6 Music’s music editor says: “Celebrating artistry is what we do every day at 6 Music, and Artists of the Year is our chance to really big up those acts who have made a cultural impact in 2025. Once again, it’s an incredibly broad mix that represents the wide range of music that we play on the network. Across this week, we’ll be reflecting back on the sessions, interviews and special shows that these artists have shared with us, it’s a joy to hear from them again and to recognise their wins this year.”

Now available on BBC Sounds are two, one-hour programmes called 6 Music’s Artists of the Year, Part 1 and 6 Music’s Artist of the Year, Part 2. Part 1 focusses on Blood Orange, CMAT, Deftones, Ethel Cain, FKA twigs and Geese, and Part 2 features Jacob Alon, jasmine.4.t, Kae Tempest, Maruja, Pulp and Turnstile. The programmes celebrate these acts’ successes and standout moments from the year and hear from their fans and peers including Billy Bragg, Chelsea Wolfe, corto.alto, Jordan Rakei, Katie Gavin, Lambrini Girls, Lauren Mayberry, Lewis Capaldi, Lucy Dacus, Panic Shack and more about why they deserve to be on this list.

The Artists of the Year 2025 will also appear across the 6 Music schedule over the coming days, with presenters broadcasting live music from the year, new interviews, themed editions of 6 Music’s regular features and more. Highlights include: Jacob Alon’s new 6 Music Artist in Residence series (Monday 3rd – Thursday 6 November, 11pm-12am), in which they’ll share four hours of music that inspires them; Chino Moreno of Deftones’ special called Locked in Room 445 (available now on BBC Sounds), which sees Chino share some of the tracks he uses to unwind after a session in the studio; and a live session from Blood Orange on Lauren Laverne’s show (Wednesday 12 November, 10am-1pm).

SH8

About 6 Music’s Artists of the Year:

Blood Orange

Blood Orange – Devonté Hynes is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter, vocalist, and director. This year he released his critically-lauded fifth studio album as Blood Orange, Essex Honey, which was called a “masterpiece” by critics. He also embarked on a global tour, which includes an exclusive ‘in the round’ residency at Alexandra Palace, North London.

CMAT

CMAT – The twice-shortlisted Mercury Prize artist CMAT appears on 6 Music’s Artist of the Year list for the second year running. This year saw her release her third album, EURO-COUNTRY, which she will tour this month, and perform on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. She also performed on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer’s Later… with Jools Holland in May and her 6 Music Artist in Residence: AAA film, released in August, is available now on BBC iPlayer.

Deftones

Deftones – The American alternative metal band Deftones, formed in 1988, released their tenth studio album, Private Music, this year – their first in five years – which took them to Number 2 in the album charts. They also completed a tour of North America, played their biggest UK headline show to date at Crystal Palace Park, London and have just hosted their annual festival, Dia de los Deftones, in California. They tour the UK again in 2026.

Ethel Cain

Ethel Cain – The American singer, songwriter and producer released two albums this year, Perverts (January) and Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You (August). She began her fourth and biggest tour yet, The Willoughby Tucker Forever Tour, in Seattle this summer, which has been expanded to continue into 2026. Ethel recently presented 6 Music’s Artist in Residence with four shows titled Wax, Wane, Pull and Drone, which are all available now on BBC Sounds.

FKA Twigs

FKA twigs – The English artist released her third album, EUSEXUA at the beginning of 2025 and then toured the album, which was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize 2025 in September. She also received nine nominations at this year’s UK Music Video Awards, including six for her EUSEXUA video – the most for any artist in 2025. She releases her next album, EUSEXUA AFTERGLOW, later this month.

Geese

Geese – Brooklyn rock band Geese released their third studio album, Getting Killed, to critical acclaim in September and are currently touring the album across the USA. They will perform at festivals including Coachella and Primavera Sound next year.

Jacob Alon

Jacob Alon – Scottish singer and songwriter Jacob released their debut album, In Limerence, in May this year, which was subsequently shortlisted for the Mercury Prize 2025, and longlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year 2025. They are currently 6 Music’s Artist in Residence (Monday 3rd – Thursday 6th November, 11pm-12am).

Jasmine.4.t

jasmine.4.t – Manchester-based singer and songwriter jasmine.4.t’s debut album, You Are the Morning, produced in collaboration with boygenius (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus) was released in January 2025 and she is currently on a world tour. She performed at the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival in Greater Manchester in March, as well as on the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury 2025.

Kae Tempest

Kae Tempest – Recording artist, lyricist, performer, poet and author Kae Tempest released Self Titled in the summer, co-produced with Grammy-winning producer Fraser T. Smith. Kae received the Ivors Academy Honour for inspiring cultural and social change through storytelling in October. Currently touring the UK and Europe, earlier this year Kae presented a series of 6 Music Artist in Residence, was interviewed in depth by 6 Music’s Tom Robinson for his Loud and Proud Icons series and performed a headline set for the 6 Music Festival in Greater Manchester.

Maruja

Maruja – Formed in Manchester, the English punk meets free jazz band Maruja released Pain to Power to critical acclaim in recent months and are currently on tour across North America, the UK and Europe. This year also saw them perform at festivals including Glastonbury, South by Southwest in Austin, Texas and Outbreak Festival, Manchester.

Pulp

Pulp – Founded in 1978 in Sheffield, Pulp released More – their first album in almost 24 years – in June of 2025. Their single Spike Island, from the album, was premiered by Lauren Laverne on her 6 Music show in April and the band performed two world exclusive live sessions for 6 Music and Radio 2 in May. More went straight to Number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. As well as their Here Comes More tour, including sold-out shows at London’s O2 Arena, the band performed a surprise set at Glastonbury and were shortlisted for this year’s Mercury Prize.

Turnstile

Turnstile – From Baltimore, Maryland, American rock band Turnstile released Never Enough, their fourth studio album, in 2025 and are currently touring it globally. Their festival appearances this year included Glastonbury, where they performed on the Other Stage, as well as Primavera Sound and Outbreak Festival, London. The band also released their acclaimed short film, Turnstile: Never Enough, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.