Nominations announced for the 71st Ivor Novello Awards
25 Mar 2026
The Ivors Academy have today announced the nominations for the 71st Ivor Novello Awards, with the winners presented at The Ivors with Amazon Music on Thursday 21 May.
Peer-judged by songwriters and composers, The Ivors are the most prestigious celebration of the craft, cultural impact and enduring importance of songs and screen compositions.
At a time when questions around authorship and AI are reshaping the music landscape, The Ivors stand as a powerful affirmation of human creativity and the cultural value of songwriters.
This year, 61 individual British, Irish or UK resident songwriters and composers, and their international collaborators, have received Ivor Novello nominations, with 34 of those picking up a nomination for the first time.
Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, Olivia Dean, Jacob Alon, Self Esteem and co-writer Johan Hugo, and Kae Tempest and co-writer Fraser T Smith have all received two nominations, with Olivia, Jacob and Johan nominated for the first time by The Ivors Academy.
Little Simz picks up her fifth Ivor Novello nomination, for “Free” in Best Contemporary Song, the second time she has been nominated in this category. She has previously won Best Album in 2020 for Grey Area and Best Contemporary Song in 2022 for “I Love You, I Hate You.” She also received two nominations in the Best Album category in 2022 and 2023.
Lola Young will receive her fourth nomination, with a second for her huge hit “Messy” in the PRS for Music Most Performed Work category. Damon Albarn will receive his fifth nomination with a nod in the Best Contemporary Song category for “Damascus”, having previously won Songwriter of the Year twice and received the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
Lily Allen receives her third nomination with West End Girl, her first album in seven years, nominated in the Best Album category. Florence Welch receives her fourth nomination at The Ivors, this year in the Best Song Musically and Lyrically category for “Everybody Scream” alongside co-writers Mitski and Mark Bowen.
Coldplay’s huge hit “Vida La Vida” picks up its third nomination this year in the PRS for Music Most Performed Work, off the back of their epic global tour. The song won Best Selling British Single in 2010 and was also nominated for PRS for Music Most Performed Work.
CMAT and Myles Smith both pick up their second Ivor Novello Award nominations, CMAT for her critically acclaimed album EURO-COUNTRY, her second Best Album nomination, and Myles Smith for his worldwide hit, “Stargazing”, alongside co-writers Peter Fenn and Jesse Fink.
The Ivors 2026 nominations:
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