Olivia Dean, Lola Young, Lily Allen, Coldplay, CMAT and Florence + the Machine are among the top nominees for the 71st annual Ivor Novello Awards, honoring songwriters and composers and taking place May 21 in London.
“Peer-judged by songwriters and composers,” the announcement reads, the Ivors honor “the craft, originality and cultural impact of songs and screen compositions.” Honorees since the awards were launched in 1956 include including Paul McCartney, Adele and Elton John, as well as American artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Bill Withers.
This year, 61 individual British, Irish or U.K.-resident songwriters and composers, and their international collaborators (including songwriters from the U.S.), have received nominations, with 34 receiving their first Ivor Novello nomination.
Among the leading nominees, Olivia Dean, Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, Jacob Alon, Self Esteem (with co-writer Johan Hugo), and Kae Tempest (with co-writer Fraser T Smith) each receive two nominations.
Little Simz picks up her fifth Ivor Novello nomination for “Free” in Best Contemporary Song, having previously won Best Album in 2020 and Best Contemporary Song in 2022.
Lola Young receives her fourth nomination, including recognition for her hit “Messy” in the Most Performed Work category. Damon Albarn also earns his fifth nomination for “Damascus,” having previously won Songwriter of the Year twice.
Lily Allen receives her third nomination with “West End Girl,” her first album in seven years, while Florence Welch (of Florence + The Machine) are nominated for “Everybody Scream,” co-written with Mitski and Mark Bowen.
Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” receives another nomination in the Most Performed Work category, continuing its enduring worldwide impact following the band’s recent global tour.
CMAT and Myles Smith both receive their second nominations, recognized for “Euro-Country” and “Stargazing,” respectively.
While the awards celebrate music written by British, Irish or UK-resident songwriters, American writers are also eligible when collaborating with an eligible co-writer.
Roberto Neri, Chief Executive of the Ivors Academy, said: “I want to congratulate these incredible nominees, whose work reflects the strength, diversity and global influence of British and Irish songwriting, which we are honoured to celebrate. An Ivor Novello Award has for over 70 years been the most prestigious recognition of excellence in music and I’d like to thank our judges for working hard to recognize this year’s nominees.”
Academy chair Tom Gray added: “Congratulations to all the songwriters and composers nominated for this year’s Ivor Novello Awards. To be recognized by your peers for exceptional craft and originality at The Ivors is one of the greatest honours in music writing, and we look forward to celebrating their achievements at The Ivors with Amazon Music on 21 May.”
The full liste of nominees appears below:
BEST ALBUM
BLACK BRITISH MUSIC (2025) written by Jim Legxacy and Joe Stanley
Performed by Jim Legxacy
Published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing and Kobalt Music Publishing
EURO COUNTRY written and performed by CMAT
Published in the UK by BMG Rights Management UK
THE ART OF LOVING written by Olivia Dean, Bastian Langebaek and Max Wolfgang
Performed by Olivia Dean
Published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing obo Goldfish Records and Kobalt Music Publishing obo Alveron Music
THE CLEARING written by Joff Oddie and Ellie Rowsell
Performed by Wolf Alice
Published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing
WEST END GIRL written by Lily Allen, Chloe Angelides, Kito and Blue May
Performed by Lily Allen
Published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing obo Chloe Angelides Publishing-Where Da Kasz At and BMG Rights Management UK
BEST CONTEMPORARY SONG
DAMASCUS written by Damon Albarn, Yasiin Bey and Omar Souleyman
Performed by Gorillaz feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey
Published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing, Pop-Up Music Publishing and Domino Publishing Company
FREE written by Alex Bonfanti, Miles Clinton James and Little Simz
Performed by Little Simz
Published in the UK by Universal Music Publishing and Sony Music Publishing
I DO AND I DON’T CARE written by Johan Hugo and Self Esteem
Performed by Self Esteem
Music published in the UK by Warner Chappell Music and Reservoir Media Management obo Blue Raincoat Music Publishing
I STAND ON THE LINE written by Fraser T Smith and Kae Tempest
Performed by Kae Tempest
Music published in the UK by Warner Chappell Music and Domino Publishing Company
KNOW YOURSELF Written by Tom Rowlands, Fraser T Smith and Kae Tempest
Performed by Kae Tempest
Music published in the UK by BMG Rights Management UK, Warner Chappell Music and Domino Publishing Company
BEST SONG MUSICALLY AND LYRICALLY
DON’T FALL ASLEEP written and performed by Jacob Alon
Music published in the UK by Concord Music Publishing
EVERYBODY SCREAM written by Mark Bowen, Mitski and Florence Welch
Performed by Florence + The Machine
Music published in the UK by Kobalt Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music obo Songs by Mitski Publishing and Universal Music Publishing obo Florence + The Machine Ltd
FOCUS IS POWER
Written by Johan Hugo, Self Esteem and Jacob Vetter
Performed by Self Esteem
Music published in the UK by Warner Chappell Music, Reservoir Media Management obo Blue Raincoat Music Publishing and Kobalt Music Publishing obo TruSauce Pub Co
THE SOFA written by Ellie Rowsell
Performed by Wolf Alice
Music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing
WEEDS written by Tove Burman, Anya Jones and Jon Shave
Performed by Sugababes
Music published in the UK by Warner Chappell Music obo MXM Music and Kobalt Music Publishing obo Spirit Music Group
PRS FOR MUSIC MOST PERFORMED WORK
MAN I NEED written by Olivia Dean, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Zach Nahome
Performed by Olivia Dean
Music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing and Concord Music Publishing
MESSY written and performed by Lola Young
music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing
STARGAZING written by Peter Fenn, Jesse Fink and Myles Smith
Performed by Myles Smith
Music published in the UK by Kobalt Music Publishing obo Songs by 308 Publishing-Where Da Kasz At, Lyric Global Copyright Services Crescendo obo Arcade Artists Publishing-Jesse Fink Publishing-Spirit One Music Crescendo and Sony Music Publishing
THE DAYS written and performed by Chrystal
Music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing
VIVA LA VIDA written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin
Performed by Coldplay
Music published in the UK by Universal Music Publishing
RISING STAR AWARD WITH AMAZON MUSIC
CHLOE QISHA
DIVORCE
Tiger Cohen-Towell, Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, Adam Peter-Smith and Kasper Sandstrøm
JACOB ALON
KWN
SKYE NEWMAN
BEST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE
BUGONIA composed by Jerskin Fendrix
Music published in the UK by Universal/MCA Music Ltd obo Focus-Gramercy Music
DRAGONFLY composed by Raffertie
Music published in the UK by Universal Music Publishing
NOSFERATU composed by Robin Carolan
Music published in the UK by Universal/MCA Music Ltd obo Focus-Gramercy Music
TESTIMONY composed by Tom Hodge
Music published in the UK by Bucks Music Group obo Rocliffe Ltd
THE BRUTALIST composed by Daniel Blumberg
Music published in the UK by Warner Chappell Music
BEST TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK
ADOLESCENCE composed by Aaron May and David Ridley
Music published in the UK by BMG Rights Management UK obo Maisie Anthems
LAZARUS composed by Sarah Warne
Music published in the UK by Universal/MCA Music Ltd obo Amazon Content Services
SUMMERWATER composed by Gazelle Twin
Music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing and District 6 Music Publishing Ltd
THIS CITY IS OURS composed by Rael Jones
Music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing obo Twenty Fifteen Avenue Music Inc
TRESPASSES composed by David Holmes and Brian Irvine
Music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing obo All3media International
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