Lewis Capaldi wins The Artist Award at ZYN Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025: ‘Music isn’t a competition, but I won!’
“The two years that I spent away were really, really hard. I had a lot of shit going on, and to be able to come back and have people be so welcoming genuinely really means the fucking world to me”
Lewis Capaldi has toasted his return to music as he picks up The Artist Award at tonight’s ZYN Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025.
The final award of the night went to the Scottish singer, who beat the likes of Sam Fender, Little Simz, Joy Crookes, Olivia Dean and Obongjayar to the crown.
In his speech, he said: “Buzzing buzzing buzzing… that Olivia Dean couldn’t make it tonight!”
He added: “This has been such a special year for me, coming back after a couple of years. I had a really, really difficult time and I didn’t know whether I would ever come back to music (I was because I needed the money!).
“The two years that I spent away were really, really hard. I had a lot of shit going on, and to be able to come back and have people be so welcoming genuinely really means the fucking world to me. Thank you for this, and I just want to say that music isn’t about awards – it’s not a competition – but on this occasion, I won!”
The third ever Rolling Stone UK Awards kicked off earlier tonight with a performance of ‘My Generation’ from Just For One Day: The Live Aid Musical star Fayth Ifil, before Myles Smith took to the stage to deliver a rendition of his song ‘Someone New’.
Other award winners so far include Biffy Clyro and Sir Bob Geldof.
Tonight’s awards will close out with a special one-off performance from The Cranberries‘ Noel Hogan and Australian duo Royel Otis, who went viral recently with their cover of the band’s hit single ‘Linger’.
Check back here for all the winners and stories from the Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025 across the evening and in the coming days.