Dafydd Owain wins 2026 Welsh music prize — SkimNews
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- Dafydd Owain won the 2026 Welsh music prize with his second album Ymarfer Byw, receiving the award at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on Wednesday.
- Ymarfer Byw beat albums by Gruff Rhys, the Royston Club and Art School Girlfriend, among others, to claim the prize of £10,000.
- Ymarfer Byw had already won Welsh language album of the year in August, making the Welsh music prize a second major validation for the record.
- Huw Stephens, who co-founded the prize in 2011, praised the album's "musical excellence" and Owain's "very personal and moving lyrics."
- Mary Hopkin, the early Apple Records signing from 1968, received the Welsh music inspiration award at the same ceremony.
- Owain recalled performing at the same Cardiff venue at age 16 as a choir member — and miming the whole performance because he was scared of making a bum note.
Why it matters: Ymarfer Byw had already taken Welsh language album of the year in August; the £10,000 Welsh music prize extends that recognition to the broader Welsh scene, where it beat entries from established acts like Gruff Rhys. Pairing Owain's win with the inspiration award to Mary Hopkin gives the ceremony a rare bookend — a breakthrough artist and a Beatles-era veteran honored in the same room.
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