Tuesday 16 September 2025
ALL RED-CARPET ARRIVALS AND WINNERS IMAGERY CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE
The Sky Arts Awards took place this evening hosted by Bill Bailey at the Roundhouse, London, celebrating incredible achievements across the entire spectrum of the arts. Building on last year's inaugural event and the legacy of the South Bank Sky Arts Awards, tonight's ceremony showcased the absolute best of British and Irish arts and culture.
Guests from the Arts world in attendance this evening included Bob Geldof, Sir Lenny Henry, Anita Rani, Myleene Klass, and Jim Moir plus many more. Guests were treated to an array of striking live performances from the Royal Ballet and Bob Geldof's iconic rock band The Boomtown Rats, Dirty Blonde and Nyah Grace all lighting up the stage. Back on home turf, ska-pop legends Madness closed the celebrations in style.
Nominees across all categories were shortlisted and assessed by independent juries comprised of industry peers from all artistic disciplines. Tonight's ceremony, broadcast on Sky Arts and Freeview, saw a host of artists take home the coveted awards.
Lola Young received the Popular Music award for her unflinching, unapologetic album This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway.' Standout drama Adolescence, which raised urgent questions about youth violence and sparked debate in Parliament was victorious in the Television category. Elf Lyons' groundbreaking Horses' won for Comedy, whilst Conclave, the political thriller directed by Edward Berger, took home the Film gong.
Nederlands Dans Theatre and Complicit won the accolade for Dance for their interdisciplinary and fearless work Figures in Extinction.' As well as celebrating established artists, the Awards also shone a light on emerging talent with The Times Breakthrough Award, which was presented this year to Owen Cooper, who gave a remarkable, breakthrough performance in Adolescence' and has just become the youngest ever male actor to win an Emmy.
Further wins include LUNG who took home the Theatre award for their bold musical The Children's Inquiry,' Opera North won in the Opera category for Simon Boccanegra' directed by PJ Harris with Antony Hermus conducting. Barbara Walker's Being Here' won for Visual Art and Bold Tendencies for Classical Music, whilst Caleb Femi's life-affirming work The Wickedest' and Sally Rooney's devastating exploration of grief in Intermezzo' were awarded the Poetry and Literature awards, respectively.
Singer, songwriter, author, and political activist Bob Geldof was this year's recipient of The Lifetime Achievement Award. Geldof rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats, and today is widely recognised for his extraordinary influence as a musician and cultural figure.
Rising to fame as the outspoken frontman of The Boomtown Rats, Bob became one of the defining voices of the 1970s punk era before going on to co-create Band Aid and the historic Live Aid concerts, which reshaped the relationship between music and global activism. With a career spanning music, business and philanthropy, he remains one of the most iconic cultural figures of his generation.
Sky Arts Awards also honours the unsung heroes from the Arts world and this year's Arts Hero award was clinched by Diane Carroll, who is the Assistant Manager at ran M r in Glasgow, and since 2004 has been working the ticket desk for the venues lunchtime phenomenon A Play, A Pie and A Pint, checking people in and giving the warmest welcome at over 600 shows. Diane knows many people by name and is loved by regulars who come every week to the shows - and some just to see Diane.
All winners were presented with this year's statuette, designed and made by Lindsey Mendick, last year's Visual Art award winner. On creating the awards, Lindsey took inspiration from a number of sources and wanted to subvert the iconic BAFTA statuette. On the importance of the arts, Lindsey commented: The arts are so important because they mirror back a breadth of our feelings. Artistic expression will be one of the things that will continue long after we're all here and it's so important to be here as a document of our time.
Phil Edgar-Jones OBE, Executive Director of Unscripted Originals at Sky, said: The Sky Arts awards celebrates the very best in our Arts and Culture - and we believe we need the joy our artists, singers, dancers, musicians, writer and poets bring more than ever.
It's about telling our stories and listening to the stories of others that we can create a more empathetic society. We need this more than ever in an increasingly divided world. We believe that by bringing our stories to everyone for free we can make a difference and celebrate the joy our creative industries provide.
The Sky Arts Awards is commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones, Executive Director of Unscripted Originals at Sky for C cile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of Sky Studios & Chief Content Officer for Sky.
Notes to editors:
For further information, please contact
PREMIER PR: skyartsawards@premiercomms.com
Lucy Butterfield: Lucy.Butterfield@sky.com
FULL LIST OF WINNERS:
THEATRE: LUNG
DANCE: Nederlands Dans Theatre and Complicit
TELEVISION: Adolescence
OPERA: Opera North
CLASSICAL MUSIC: Bold Tendencies
COMEDY: Elf Lyons
FILM: Conclave
VISUAL ART: Barbara Walker
POETRY: Caleb Femi
LITERATURE: Sally Rooney
POPULAR MUSIC: Lola Young
ARTS HERO: Diane Carroll
THE TIMES BREAKTHROUGH: Owen Cooper
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Bob Geldof
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