Wolf Alice, Olivia Dean and Little Simz lead this year's Ivor Novello Awards nominations
Thirty-four first-time nominees feature across seven categories at this year's ceremony.
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Sessions · Playlists · Behind the scenes
Thirty-four first-time nominees feature across seven categories at this year's ceremony.
Get more Dork
Sessions · Playlists · Behind the scenes
Nominees for the 71st Ivor Novello Awards have been revealed, spanning seven categories that celebrate new music released in the UK throughout 2025.
Several artists have earned multiple nods this year. Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice, Olivia Dean, Jacob Alon, Self Esteem alongside co-writer Johan Hugo, and Kae Tempest with co-writer Fraser T Smith each feature twice across the categories.
Little Simz earns her fifth career nomination through 'Free' in the Best Contemporary Song field, having previously taken home prizes for 'Grey Area' and 'I Love You, I Hate You'.
Other artists in the nominations include Jim Legxacy, CMAT, Lily Allen, Damon Albarn, Florence + The Machine, Jacob Alon, Sugababes, Chloe Qisha, Divorce, Jacob Alon, kwn and Skye Newman.
Winners will be presented at The Ivors with Amazon Music on 21st May at Grosvenor House, London.
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, and we look forward to celebrating their achievements at The Ivors with Amazon Music on 21st May."
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 recognise this year's nominees."
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
