BBC Radio 6 Music announces its Artists of the Year 2025

04 November 2025 - Press release

Today (Monday 3rd November) on BBC Radio 6 Music, the UK's biggest digital-only radio station with 2.7 million weekly listeners (RAJAR, Q3 2025), Nick Grimshaw 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

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 6th 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 12th November, 10am-1pm).