Olivia Dean, Wolf Alice, Lola Young and Coldplay are among the nominees for the 2026 Ivor Novello Awards, recognizing excellence in British and Irish songwriting and composition.
The annual ceremony, presented by The Ivors Academy, will seize place on May 21 at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House hotel in London. The prizes are judged by songwriters and composers, making them a highly respected honor within the U.K. Music industry.
Olivia Dean receives her first nomination with The Art of Loving up for Best Album and “Man I Need” nominated in the PRS’ Most Performed Work category. Wolf Alice and Jacob Alon also score two nominations each, as do Self Esteem with co-writer Johan Hugo, and Kae Tempest with collaborator Fraser T Smith.
The Best Album category features Dean’s The Art of Loving, Jim Legxacy’s Black British Music, CMAT’s Euro-Country, Wolf Alice’s The Clearing, and Lily Allen’s West Finish Girl. In 2025, BERWYN won the prize for his debut LP Who Am I.
Competition for Best Contemporary Song includes tracks by Gorillaz, Little Simz, Self Esteem, and two by Kae Tempest. The Best Song Musically and Lyrically category will see competition from Jacob Alon, Florence + The Machine, Self Esteem, Wolf Alice, and Sugababes.
The PRS for Music Most Performed Work prize recognizes songs that resonated with the public in 2025, based on broadcast, online, and general performance data. Nominees include “Man I Need” by Olivia Dean, “Messy” by Lola Young, “Stargazing” by Myles Smith, “The Days” by Chrystal, and “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay, which saw a resurgence following the band’s Music of the Spheres world tour.
Jacob Alon, Skye Newman, Chloe Qisha, Divorce, and Mrs. Are nominated for the Rising Star award with Amazon Music. Jacob Alon and Newman were previously nominated for the Critics’ Choice award at the 2026 BRITs, with Alon winning the prize.
The awards also recognize excellence in film and television scoring. Nominees for Best Original Film Score include Bugonia (Jerskin Fendrix), Dragonfly (Raffertie), Nosferatu (Robin Carolan), Testimony (Tom Hodge), and The Brutalist (Daniel Blumberg). For Best Television Soundtrack, the nominees are Adolescence (Aaron May and David Ridley), Lazarus (Sarah Warne), Summerwater (Gazelle Twin), This City is Ours (Rael Jones), and Trespasses (David Holmes and Brian Irvine).
A total of 61 songwriters and composers are recognized, with 34 receiving their first Ivor Novello nomination. The awards have a rich history, with past winners including Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, David Bowie, Adele, Bruce Springsteen, and Elton John. In 2025, U2 was inducted into the Academy Fellowship.
Additional prizes, the Gift of the Academy, recognizing lasting contributions to music, will be revealed during the ceremony.
Best album
Black British Music, 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 Lovingwritten 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 Clearingwritten 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. Music 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. Music 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 with Amazon Music
Chloe Qisha
Divorce (Tiger Cohen-Towell, Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, Adam Peter-Smith and Kasper Sandstrøm)
Jacob Alon
Mrs
Skye Newman
Best original film score
Bugoniacomposed by Jerskin Fendrix. Music published in the UK by Universal/MCA Music Ltd obo Focus-Gramercy Music.
Dragonflycomposed by Raffertie. Music published in the UK by Universal Music Publishing.
Nosferatucomposed by Robin Carolan. Music published in the UK by Universal/MCA Music Ltd obo Focus-Gramercy Music.
Testimonycomposed by Tom Hodge. Music published in the UK by Bucks Music Group obo Rocliffe Ltd.
The Brutalistcomposed 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
Lazaruscomposed by Sarah Warne. Music published in the UK by Universal/MCA Music Ltd obo Amazon Content Services.
Summerwatercomposed by Gazelle Twin. Music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing and District 6 Music Publishing Ltd.
This City is Ourscomposed by Rael Jones. Music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing obo Twenty Fifteen Avenue Music Inc.
Trespassescomposed by David Holmes and Brian Irvine. Music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing obo All3media International.