Wolf Alice, Olivia Dean and Lily Allen among Ivor Novello nominees: see the full list

The nominations for the 2026 Ivor Novello Awards have been announced, with Wolf Alice, Olivia Dean and Lily Allen among those up for awards.

The nominees announced today (March 24) span seven different categories, with 61 different songwriters and composers receiving nominations.

This year’s ceremony takes place once more in partnership with Amazon Music at London’s Grosvenor House on May 21.

Two nominations apiece have been received by Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, Olivia Dean, Jacob Alon, Self Esteem (joint with co-writer Johan Hugo) and Kae Tempest (with co-writer Fraser T.Smith. Dean, Alon and Hugo are all first time nominees.

Returning nominees include two-time winner Little Simz who is up for her single ‘Free’ in Best Contemporary Song, while Damon Albarn is also up for the fifth time, in the same category for Gorillaz’ ‘Damascus’, featuring Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey.

Check out the nominees in full below.

Best album
Jim Legxacy – Black British Music (written by Legxacy and Joe Stanley)
CMAT – Euro Country (written and performed by CMAT)
Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving (written by Dean, Bastian Langebaek and Max Wolfgang)
Wolf Alice – The Clearing (written by Joff Oddie and Ellie Rowsell)
Lily Allen – West End Girl (written by Allen, Chloe Angelides, Kito and Blue May)

Best contemporary song
Gorillaz – ‘Damascus’ (ft Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey) (written by Damon Albarn, Bey and Souleyman)
Little Simz – ‘Fire’ (written by Simz, Alex Bonfanti and Miles Clinton James)
Self Esteem – ‘I Do and I Don’t Care’ (written by Self Esteem and Johan Hugo)
Kae Tempest – ‘I Stand on the Line ‘(written by Tempest and Fraser T Smith)
Kae Tempest – ‘Know Yourself’ (written by Tempest, Fraser T Smith and Tom Rowlands)

Best song musically and lyrically
Jacob Alon – ‘Don’t Fall Asleep’ (written by Alon)
Florence + the Machine – ‘Everybody Scream’ (written by Florence Welch, Mark Bowen and Mitski)
Self Esteem – ‘Focus Is Power’ (written by Self Esteem, Johan Hugo and Jacob Vetter)
Wolf Alice – ‘The Sofa’ (written by Ellie Rowsell)
Sugababes – ‘Weeds’ (written by Tove Burman, Anya Jones and Jon Shave)

PRS for music most-performed work
Olivia Dean – ‘Man I Need’ (written by Dean, Tobias Jesso Jr and Zach Nahome)
Lola Young – ‘Messy’ (written by Young)
Myles Smith – ‘Stargazing’ (written by Smith, Peter Fenn and Jesse Fink)
Chrystal – ‘The Days’ (written by Chrystal)
Coldplay – ‘Viva la Vida’ (written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin)

Rising star
Chloe Qisha
Divorce
Jacob Alon
Kwn
Skye Newman

Best original film score
Jerskin Fendrix – Bugonia
Raffertie – Dragonfly
Robin Carolan – Nosferatu
Tom Hodge – Testimony
Daniel Blumberg – The Brutalist

Best television soundtrack
Aaron May and David Ridley – Adolescence
Sarah Warne – Lazarus
Gazelle Twin – Summerwater
Rael Jones – This City Is Ours
David Holmes and Brian Irvine – Trespasses