Susan Philipsz has won the Turner Prize for her work Lowlands, a recording of her singing three separate versions of a traditional Scottish folk song.
It is the first time a sound installation has even been shortlisted for the the prestigious modern art prize.
Fashion designer Miuccia Prada presented the Glasgow-born artist with the £25,000 prize at ceremony at Tate Britain in central London.
Philipsz was firm favourite to win the prize with bookmakers making her 4/11 to win.
She recorded three versions of the song Lowlands Away, which tells the tale of a man drowned at sea who returns to tell his lover of his death, for her installation which plays in an empty room in the gallery.
Curator Katherine Stout said it was a "very physical" work.
She said: "It plays upon the otherwise emptiness of the gallery."
Philipsz saw off competition from more traditional artists including Dexter Dalwood whose collection of politically-inspired paintings includes an imagining of the death of Dr David Kelly.
Angela de la Cruz and The Otolith Group were the other artists in the running for the award. They will receive £5,000 each for being shortlisted.
The Turner Prize, which was set up in 1984, is awarded to a British artist under the age of 50 and is "intended to promote public discussion of new developments in contemporary British art".
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