Lily Allen, Olivia Dean and CMAT are among the artists nominated for songwriting awards at the 2026 Ivors.
Organisers have said they are intent on recognising human creativity and the cultural value of songwriters at a time when “questions around authorship and AI are reshaping the music landscape”.
More than half of the 61 shortlisted songwriters and composers this year are first-time nominees, while others are more familiar faces at the ceremony.
Lily Allen is nominated in the Best Album category for West End Girl, her first album in seven years and one that became part of the cultural zeitgeist upon its release in October 2025. The pop star received rave reviews for her brutally honest depiction of marriage, infidelity and heartbreak, while also achieving a number two spot on the UK albums chart.
Four of the five albums nominated in the Best Album category are fronted by women, including Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell – who is also up for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for the rock band’s single “The Sofa” – for The Clearing, Olivia Dean for her third record, The Art of Loving, and Irish pop star CMAT for EURO COUNTRY. Jim Legxacy’s critically adored black british music completes the five nominated albums.
Elsewhere, Lola Young is nominated for PRS for Most Performed Work for the second time thanks to her viral single “Messy”, while Florence and the Machine frontwoman Florence Welch is up for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for “Everybody Scream”, with co-writers Mitski and Mark Bowen.
Rising Scottish artist Jacob Alon, who won the Brits Critics’ Choice award in January, is also nominated in the Best Song category for “Don’t Fall Asleep”, as well as being shortlisted for the Rising Star prize. Brit Award-winning rapper Little Simz is up for an Ivor Novello for her track “Free”, in the Best Contemporary Song category.
The Ivors 2026 nominations are as follows:
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
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 21 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.”
This year’s Ivors ceremony with Amazon Music is taking place on Thursday 21 May at Grosvenor House in London.
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