Olivia Dean, Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, Jacob Alon, Self Esteem and Kae Tempest lead this year’s Ivor Novello awards with two nominations each. Self Esteem’s co-writer Johan Hugo and Tempest’s collaborator Fraser T Smith also feature among the most nominated acts.
The nominations highlight a persistent gender imbalance: among the 61 songwriters and composers recognised, 40 are male, 19 female and two non-binary. Research from the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California shows the proportion of female songwriters in the 1,400 most popular songs of the year fell from 18.9% in 2024 to 14.5% in 2025.
This year’s Ivors are positioned as a celebration of human creativity amid concerns about artificial intelligence’s impact on musicians. Categories include best album, best contemporary song and best original film score – the latter entirely male-nominated, underscoring challenges for women in that space.
Notable nominees include Little Simz, receiving her fifth Ivors nomination for 'Free', and Lily Allen, whose third nomination comes for her album West End Girl. Coldplay’s 2008 song ‘Viva la Vida’ earns its third nomination, for most performed work, following the band’s global tour.
Winners will be announced on 21 May in London, with additional accolades such as songwriter of the year presented at the ceremony.
