Ivor Novello Awards 2026: The full nominations revealed
The Ivors Academy has announced the nominations for the 71st Ivor Novello Awards; the winners will be announced at The Ivors in London on May 21st.
The Award ceremony, which sets out to recognise new and old talents in British and Irish songwriting, has included globally acclaimed songwriters like Olivia Dean, Lola Young, Lily Allen, Wolf Alice, CMAT and Florence and The Machine in its new list of nominations.
Across the board, 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 all receive two nominations.
In the coveted ‘Best Album’ category, Wolf Alice will compete with Lily Alen, Olivia Dean, CMAT and Jim Legxcy.
In total, 61 individual British, Irish or UK resident songwriters and composers, and their international collaborators, have received Ivor Novello nominations, with over half of those picking up a nomination for the first time.
Tom Gray, chair of The Ivors Academy, said: “Congratulations to all the songwriters and composers nominated for this year’s Ivor Novello Awards. To be recognised by your peers for exceptional craft and originality at The Ivors is one of the greatest honours in music writing.”
Robert Neri, chief executive of The Ivors Academy, has helpfully reminded us that “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 recognise this year’s nominees.”
See the full list of nominees below.
The Ivors 2026 nominations:
‘Best Album’
- Black British Music – Jim Legxacy
- Euro Country – CMAT
- The Art of Loving – Olivia Dean
- The Clearing – Wolf Alice
- West End Girl – Lily Allen
‘Best Contemporary Song’
- ‘Damascus’ – Gorillaz feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey
- ‘Free’ – Little Simz
- ‘I Do and I Don’t Care’ – Self Esteem
- ‘I Stand on the Line’ – Kae Tempest
- ‘Know Yourself’ – Kae Tempest
‘Best Song Musically and Lyrically’
- ‘Don’t Fall Asleep’ – Jacob Alon
- ‘Everybody Scream’ – Florence + The Machine
- ‘Focus is Power’ – Self Esteem
- ‘The Sofa’ – Wolf Alice
- ‘Weeds’ – Sugababes
‘PRS for Music Most Performed Work’
- ‘Man I Need’ – Olivia Dean
- ‘Messy’ – Lola Young
- ‘Stargazing’ – Myles Smith
- ‘The Days’ – Chrystal
- ‘Viva La Vida’ – Coldplay
‘Rising Star Award with Amazon Music’
- Chloe Qisha
- Divorce
- Jacob Alon
- kwn
- Skye Newman
‘Best Original Film Score’
- Bugonia – Jerskin Fendrix
- Dragonfly – Raffertie
- Nosferatu – Robin Carolan
- Testimony – Tom Hodge
- The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg
‘Best Television Soundtrack’
- Adolescence – Aaron May and David Ridley
- Lazarus – Sarah Warne
- Summerwater – Gazelle Twin
- This City is Ours – Rael Jones
- Trespasses – David Holmes and Brian Irvine
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