Pulp celebrates War Child charity at Mercury Prize ceremony

The band Pulp performed their track ‘Begging For Change’ at the Mercury Prize ceremony in Newcastle to support the charity album ‘Help(2)’. This compilation is a follow-up to the landmark 1995 ‘Help’ record, which was led by Brian Eno and featured artists such as Oasis, Radiohead, and Blur.

The 2026 follow-up, ‘Help(2)’, includes contributions from Arctic Monkeys, Fontaines D.C., Wet Leg, Young Fathers, Damon Albarn, and Olivia Rodrigo.

Reflecting on their own history, the band recalled their 1996 Mercury Prize win for ‘Different Class’. At that time, they donated their £25,000 prize money to War Child. Band member Candida Doyle noted a humorous moment where she handed the prize cheque to Brian Eno in an envelope, which he initially mistook for a standard part of the award process.