
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
Latest news
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
27/03/2026
Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature-Rich CV320 and CV520 IP and 3G-SDI PO...
27/03/2026
Sony Electronics Inc. Elevates Professional Video Workflows with Powerful Update...
27/03/2026
GatesAir Extends AirWatch365 Managed Service with Edge Gateway Site Appliance
Brie Clayton March 27, 2026
0 Comments
NAB marks global launch of servic...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...
27/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...
27/03/2026
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...
27/03/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...
27/03/2026
130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...
27/03/2026
Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production
Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...
27/03/2026
San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...
27/03/2026
Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
27/03/2026
RT Supporting the Arts
RT is Supporting 20 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this April
RT is proud to support an exciting month of arts and cul...
27/03/2026
Average of 1.37 million viewers watched Irish World Cup heartbreak on RT 2
Over one million streams on RT Player
Highest number of streams for any single eve...
27/03/2026
March 27 2026, 01:30 (PDT) Dolby Unveils Dolby House Shanghai, its First Global Flagship Experience Center
A New Global Platform Showcasing Dolbys Innovatio...
27/03/2026
March 27 2026, 03:30 (PDT) Dolby and QQ Music Advance Streaming Music with Enhancements to Dolby AC-4
Delivering greater fidelity, clarity and detail to Dol...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
Spotify's partnership with NAVER, Korea's leading digital platform, is built around one simple goal: making it easier for listeners in Korea to discover...
26/03/2026
Exclusive to ComposerCloud for first month
Sample library and virtual instrument gurus EastWest have announced the upcoming release of a new virtual drum i...
26/03/2026
Friday 27 March
Friday 27 March will mark Dynamic Range Day 2026, the annual day of online activity that was started in 2010 by mastering engineer Ian Sheph...
26/03/2026
Includes four separate instruments
Max Richter's SRM Sounds venture have just announced their fifth release, ASMR Choir. Captured at the main live room ...
26/03/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has been tasked with administering the Sixth Presi...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...