2026 Ivor Novello Awards Nominations Announced

The nominations for the 2026 Ivor Novello Awards were announced on March 24, highlighting excellence in songwriting and composing among 61 British, Irish, and U.K.-resident artists, along with their international collaborators. The peer-judged ceremony, presented by the Ivors Academy in partnership with Amazon Music, will take place on May 21 at Grosvenor House in London, recognizing works released in the U.K. in 2025.

Olivia Dean, Lily Allen, and CMAT lead the field in the Best Album category, joined by Wolf Alice and Jim Legxacy. Dean, a first-time nominee, earned nods for her third album, The Art of Loving, which also won the Brit Award for Album of the Year, following her Grammy for Best New Artist. Allen's West End Girl, her first release in seven years, explores themes of marriage and heartbreak and reached number two on the U.K. albums chart. CMAT's Euro Country and Wolf Alice's The Clearing represent indie and alternative sounds, while Legxacy's Black British Music rounds out the diverse shortlist, with four of the five albums fronted by women.

In Best Contemporary Song, Little Simz secured her fifth nomination for Free, building on prior wins for Best Album in 2020 and...