Vyra-sponsored Group Award nominees named for ZYN Rolling Stone UK Awards 2026

Six acts will contest The Group Award supported by Vyra at the ZYN Rolling Stone UK Awards 2026, with the ceremony set for the Roundhouse in London on 19 November. The shortlist names Blossoms, Chalk, Dream Nails, Keo, The Last Dinner Party and Wolf Alice.

The nominations place a nicotine-brand sponsorship on one of the night’s category awards, alongside ZYN’s title backing of the event and ZYN’s support for the Live Act Award. Four live performances and the induction of 13 winners into the Rolling Stone UK Hall of Fame are scheduled, with Danny Dyer returning as host, according to the awards announcement.

Group shortlist mixes established rock acts with newer collectives

The organisers frame the category as recognition of what artists produce when they work together, and describe the 2026 field as covering chart-topping rock groups and electronic acts among other styles. A second outlet, Eirewave, summarised the same field description as spanning the biggest and boldest groups from the UK and Ireland.

The Breakthrough Award, supported by the Roundhouse, was announced before the Group field. Eirewave reports that the Live Act Award (supported by ZYN) and the Festival Award shortlists were published after the Group and Breakthrough lists, but it does not reproduce either full line-up, so the names in those categories are not confirmed here.

Ceremony date and Hall of Fame numbers

Eirewave describes the ceremony as nine days away at the point it published, which is consistent with a 19 November date. Neither account names the performers or the Hall of Fame inductees.

Sponsorship puts vape and nicotine brands inside a mainstream music prize

The awards carry two nicotine-sector names in their sponsorship line-up: Vyra on the Group Award and ZYN on the event title and the Live Act Award. For brand owners, the placement is a marketing channel rather than a regulatory development, and the material contains no statement about advertising rules, audience restrictions or spend.

VapeBrief’s analysis: for Shenzhen manufacturers and exporters, the relevant reading is commercial rather than compliance-driven, since the material sets out no product claims, no registrations and no shipment or pricing information. Any link between sponsorship visibility and order timing in the UK market is not supported by the material and should not be inferred from it.

What happens next

Further category shortlists and performance details are expected in the days before the 19 November ceremony, according to Eirewave, and the organisers said more nominations and awards news would follow. The Group, Breakthrough, Live Act and Festival fields are the categories identified so far; the remaining shortlists and the Hall of Fame names have not been published in the material reviewed.