Ivor Novello Awards 2026: The complete list of winners
This year’s winners of the Ivor Novello Awards have been revealed at a ceremony held at the Grosvenor House in London.
The award ceremony, which sets out to recognise new and old talents in British and Irish songwriting, deemed CMAT the winner of the ‘Best Album’ award for her 2025 album, Euro Country, marking her first Ivor Novello win. Jim Legxacy, Olivia Dean, Wolf Alice, and Lily Allen were also nominated in the category.
The ‘Best Contemporary Song’ award was handed to Fraser T Smith and Kae Tempest for their collaborative track, ‘I Stand on the Line’. The track was recognised by the industry body for giving voice to those “too often unheard”.
From there, the award for ‘Best Television Soundtrack’ was awarded to David Holmes and Brian Irvine for their score to the drama series Trespasses.
Additionally, ‘Best Song Musically and Lyrically was awarded to Jacob Alon for ‘Don’t Fall Asleep’. Judges deemed the song “profoundly emotionally honest”. He later returned to the stage for his second award, after also being crowned ‘Rising Star Award’ winner, an accolade which recognises the emergence of one of the UK’s most distinctive new songwriting voices.
Other winners on the night included Lola Young for her global hit ‘Messy’, which took home the ‘PRS for Music Most Performed Work’, as well as Kano, who took home the ‘Visionary Award with Amazon Music’ in recognition of over two decades in the industry.
Linda Perry, the songwriting machine behind global hits like ‘Beautiful’, ‘Get the Party Started’ and ‘What You Waiting For?’, was honoured with the ‘Special International Award with Amazon Music’.
Continuing on the songwriting theme, Rosalía was presented with ‘International Songwriter of The Year’ and Sam Fender was awarded the ‘Songwriter of the Year with Amazon Music’ after winning the Mercury Prize earlier this year.
Elsewhere on the evening, George Michael was awarded Fellowship of the Ivors Academy, one of the most prestigious honours in songwriting, ten years after his tragic passing.
The ‘PRS for Music Icon Award’ was presented to Calvin Harris, deemed by the industry body one of the most successful and influential figures in modern music.
The big names didn’t stop there, as Elton John was presented with an Ivors Academy Honour in recognition of his outstanding work championing songwriters, composers, and creativity across the music industry.
If this wasn’t enough, The Ivors Academy also announced that the ‘Rocketman’ singer would become its first-ever President in a newly created role.
As the awards drew to a close, music icon Thom Yorke received one of songwriting’s highest honours, titled ‘Fellowship of the Ivors Academy’. Yorke, alongside Alon and Skye Newman, closed the show with stripped-back performances.
See the full winners list below.
The Ivors 2026 – winners list:
‘Best Album’
- Black British Music – Jim Legxacy
- Euro Country – CMAT – WINNER
- 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 – WINNER
- ‘Know Yourself’ – Kae Tempest
‘Best Song Musically and Lyrically’
- ‘Don’t Fall Asleep’ – Jacob Alon – WINNER
- ‘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 – WINNER
- ‘Stargazing’ – Myles Smith
- ‘The Days’ – Chrystal
- ‘Viva La Vida’ – Coldplay
‘Rising Star Award with Amazon Music’
- Chloe Qisha
- Divorce
- Jacob Alon – WINNER
- kwn
- Skye Newman
‘Best Original Film Score’
- Bugonia – Jerskin Fendrix
- Dragonfly – Raffertie
- Nosferatu – Robin Carolan
- Testimony – Tom Hodge – WINNER
- 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 – WINNER
‘Academy Fellowship’
- George Michael – WINNER
- Thom Yorke – WINNER
‘Outstanding Song Collection’
- Lily Allen – WINNER
‘PRS For Music Icon Award’
- Calvin Harris – WINNER
‘International Songwriter Of The Year’
- Rosalía – WINNER
‘Songwriter Of The Year with Amazon Music’
- Sam Fender – WINNER
‘Visionary Award with Amazon Music’
- Kano – WINNER
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