Harry Styles and Thom Yorke shared a beautiful moment celebrating Radiohead's influence on modern music, with Harry crediting the band for inspiring 'Watermelon Sugar.' The evening was a triumphant celebration of songwriting as Elton John became the first President of the Ivors Academy.
Sir Elton John accidentally spilled that Harry Styles was backstage before his big moment—ruining the surprise for everyone. Multiple artists dropped f-bombs on stage, Jacob Alon called AI company representatives 'c**s' directly to their faces, and Lola Young got so derailed by a champagne cork she fled before finishing her speech.
Harry Styles revealed: 'I lost my virginity to the intro of Talk Show Host.' Thom Yorke declared from the stage: 'Pull your fingers out. Just remember, without us, you ain't shit,' while criticizing streaming share prices and catalog acquisitions over artist investment.
The Ivors have always been posh and predictable—until now. This year's ceremony proved that songwriters are done being polite about AI theft, Streaming services' greed, and an industry that treats creativity as an afterthought. If this is what 71 years of human songwriting looks like, bring on the chaos.
LONDON — The Ivor Novello Awards have spent seven decades being the stuffy, respectable cousin of music's awards season—polite applause, acceptance speeches thanking managers, the occasional tearful tribute. But at its 71st edition, now officially rebranded as "The Ivors with Amazon Music," the ceremony threw off its dinner-jacket constraints and descended into something genuinely unhinged. It started innocently enough when Harry Styles hot-footed it across the Channel from his Amsterdam tour opening to present Thom Yorke with the Academy Fellowship—the evening's highest honor.
But Sir Elton John, who thought he was there simply to hand Sam Fender his Songwriter of the Year prize, accidentally spoiled the surprise in his speech by mentioning he'd seen Harry backstage. The crowd gasped. Then laughed.
Then Styles took the mic and absolutely seized back control. "I lost my virginity to 'Talk Show Host,'" he declared, pausing for effect before clarifying: "Well, I lost my virginity to the intro to 'Talk Show Host.'" He went on to credit Radiohead's "Exit Music" as inspiration for his own "Watermelon Sugar," calling their influence a "religious experience." Yorke seemed genuinely moved, wrapping Styles in a long hug before taking the stage himself—and that's when things got ugly.
Yorke launched into a scathing attack on the modern music industry, contrasting it with the risk-taking business that backed nascent Radiohead in the '90s. "I worry our business is becoming risk-averse and unable or unwilling to help [artists]," he said, complaining of the focus on "the exciting share prices of streaming services" and the "feeding frenzy" around catalog acquisitions. "Pull your fingers out," he urged the assembled industry executives—Warner Chappell's Guy Moot, Sony Music U.K.'s Jason Iley, and managers for P!nk and Adele among those spotted in the room.
"Just remember, without us, you ain't shit." Yorke wasn't alone in his fury. Scottish singer-songwriter Jacob Alon—who took home both Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Don't Fall Asleep" AND the Rising Star Award—used his moment to call out AI company representatives in attendance as, quote, "c**s." That's right: at an awards ceremony once known for its genteel Toad of Toad Hall atmosphere, someone just pointed at tech executives and dropped the c-bomb.
CMAT, winner of Best Album for "Euro-Country," took shots at politicians in both Ireland and the U.K., while Rosalía—crowned International Songwriter of the Year—called the music industry an "insatiable monster" in its constant craving for new material over artistry. The chaos didn't stop at podium speeches. Lola Young was mid-acceptance for PRS for Music Most Performed Work on her hit "Messy" when a champagne cork popped somewhere in the crowd, completely derailing her train of thought.
She fled the stage before finishing and only returned later to present Elton John with something more prepared: "In a world that takes and takes, he gives back in abundance." Calvin Harris, receiving the PRS for Music Icon Award, seemed shell-shocked stumbling through his thanks. Even Damon Albarn fumbled his presentation to Rosalía—attempting to serenade her in Spanish on a melodica before wisely cutting it short. And then there was Elton John himself, who came expecting to hand out one award and instead walked away as the first-ever President of the Ivors Academy (with his own ceremony planned for later this year).
His closing statement cut through all the evening's anger with quiet menace: "Music is the greatest gift you can possibly be given. Don't let people take it away from you—especially AI." The late George Michael also received a posthumous Fellowship, accepted by Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley and preceded by rising star Skye Newman covering "Careless Whisper." This was not the Ivors anyone expected after last year's celebrity-studded lineup featuring U2, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and Lana Del Rey. It was messier, rawer, and angrier—a celebration of songwriting that doubles as a war cry against everything threatening to replace it.
