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The big question before this year’s Ivor Novello Awards was how on earth organizers might top last year’s Paul McCartney-Bruce Springsteen double-header, in which Macca ruthlessly roasted the Boss ahead of handing over Springsteen’s Fellowship Award.
After all, this was a landmark ceremony – the 70th edition of the U.K.’s longest-running music awards ceremony (now known as the Ivors with Amazon Music), one that has honored the great and good of songwriting across the decades – so surely required something even more special, should such a thing be possible.
Did they do it? Well, they certainly came up with a star-studded line-up that included both storied rock legends (U2, joining the elite band of Fellows of the Ivors Academy), hip pop names (Charli xcx picking up the Songwriter of the Year Award, Lola Young named as Rising Star) and homegrown superstars (Ed Sheeran, Robbie Williams) — not to mention a surprise return visit from The Boss, who evidently enjoyed himself so much last year he decided to come back on a night off from his European tour (and calling out Donald Trump) to hand over the Special International Award to the Killers’ Brandon Flowers.
“I haven’t been to Sunderland so I’ve got my voice tonight,” quipped Springsteen as he strolled on to gasps and cries of “Bruuuuuuuuce!”, in reference to last year’s decidedly hoarse appearance.
And he certainly found his voice talking about his collaborator and friend, Brandon Flowers. Springsteen spoke about discovering the Killers after hearing his son playing the chorus of “Somebody Told Me” through the bedroom door.
“It took me a minute to work it out, but then I said, ‘That’s a fucking clever line’,” he grinned, praising Flowers’ voice as well as his songwriting spirit born in the Nevada desert.
“Most bands end up in Las Vegas,” Springsteen quipped. “They don’t come from there.”
For his part, Flowers seemed deeply touched that Springsteen would show up for him, lovingly telling how the older singer-songwriter will “cold call” him – not to ask for favors, but because “he’s just being Bruce Springsteen and checking in on his brother Brandon.”
Flowers had an origin story of his own as he talked of discovering the Cure via his older brother blasting “Just Like Heaven” from his off-limits bedroom, putting the younger Flowers on the road to becoming “a card-carrying Anglophile,” glorying in the fact that the Killers were once described “as the best British band to come from America.”
But he also had words to say about the fine art of songwriting.
“Like Prometheus, we reach into the realm of the Gods to steal something divine,” he said. “It’s the greatest thing in the world.”
Even after that, there was still ante to be upped. Ed Sheeran popped in to honor U2, a band he discovered when he heard “The Sweetest Thing” as a child and who he now has “a deep, deep respect for, not just as artists, but also as humans.”
However, he couldn’t resist a reference to U2’s attempt to force feed its “Songs of Innocence” album onto everyone’s iPhone a few years back (“Mixed results,” deadpanned Sheeran), but he also paid tribute to Bono’s phone manner, the U2 frontman having apparently talked him through everything from parenthood to building his own pub.
For once, Bono was not initially the center of attention as U2 collected their award, as all four members of the band spoke – an appropriate nod to the democracy of their songwriting.
Adam Clayton paid tribute to those who helped the band along the way, including Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and Nick Stewart, the A&R man who insisted on signing the band despite Blackwell’s initial doubts. Both were in the room, along with some of U2’s old managers and producers, including Paul McGuinness, Brian Eno, Steve Lillywhite, Flood, Declan Gaffney and Howie B – not to mention top execs including Sony Music U.K. boss Jason Iley, Island EMI boss Louis Bloom, new Apple Music co-head Ole Obermann, Lola Young manager Nick Shymansky and Milk & Honey president Lucas Keller.
Probably not present was Muff Winwood, with drummer Larry Mullen Jr. recalling the time the then-CBS Records exec offered the band a record deal – on the condition they fired the drummer. Mullen Jr even turned that into a positive, thanking him for “making me more determined than ever” and his bandmates for “letting me be in my own band for the last 50 years.”
The Edge – so often the quiet one – certainly enjoyed his moment in the limelight, singing an adapted version of “My Way” with lyrics about his bandmates (“There were times, I’m sure you knew/ When Bono bit off more than he could chew”) before declaring, “We did it my way!”
The singer, of course, would not be overshadowed for long, using his speech to plead for peace in Gaza; calling on Hamas to “release the hostages,” for both sides to “stop the war” and for Israel to “be released from Benjamin Netanyahu.”
“Peace creates possibilities in the most intractable situations,” he said, ahead of a powerful acoustic version of “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” “And Lord knows there’s a few of them out there right now.”
The Ivors platform has grown exponentially in recent years and, in 2025, it wasn’t just Bono using his voice.
Ivors Academy chair Tom Gray sounded a somewhat downbeat note in his pre-awards address, pointing out how the modern music industry too often sees his members “struggle, and suffer, and only succeed after death or at the mercy of an algorithm that believes the very depths of your soul is a good match for someone’s spin session.”
After all, this time last year, Raye made an impassioned plea for songwriters to receive points (i.e. a percentage) on master recordings, per diems and expenses. Individual songwriters may have had occasional successes in those areas, but it remains a long way off from becoming the norm – to the extent that Myles Smith, winner of the PRS For Music Most Performed Work for his megahit “Stargazing” (adding one more to its tally here by also playing it live), reiterated her request in his acceptance speech.
Singer-songwriter Self Esteem added to her growing list of accolades with the Visionary Award and gave a hilarious, yet heartfelt speech about the travails of being a woman in the music industry.
“If you’re in the industry and you’re looking for the ‘next bold female voice,’ as women are a thing now, remember to protect them,” she warned.
One of those bold female voices, Charli xcx, was named Songwriter of the Year for “Brat”, a daring musical statement echoed by her speech’s departure from the on-stage consensus that “everything starts from a good song.”
“In my head, a great song alone has never actually been enough to captivate an audience,” she said. “Instead, a song with a distinct identity, coupled with a point of view and, above all, conviction is what can catapult a songwriter from being technically good to globally renowned.
“I’m sure you’ll agree, I’m hardly Bob Dylan,” she added, mocking her own lyrics for “Club Classics” and “360.” “But one thing I certainly do is commit to the bit.”
Also very much dedicated to his schtick was Icon Award winner Robbie Williams – a less familiar name to those on the American side of the Atlantic, many of whom were watching on the sponsors’ livestream, but rapidly regaining his U.K. national treasure status.
His acceptance speech arrived in the form of a self-aggrandizing poem, containing in-your-face lines such as “All my songs are hits and all of yours are B-sides” and “If my target audience was c–ts, you’d love me!” (This was surely the Ivors’ sweariest ever ceremony, by the way – even Ed Sheeran dropped a C-bomb.)
More contemporary pop names were also honored. Lola Young, the biggest Brit breakout of the year thanks to “Messy,” was named Rising Star, stumbling on stage still holding her coat and giving an endearingly unpolished but passionate speech.
“Whether [songwriting] is a blessing or a curse, something inside me just needs to do it,” she said. “In the moments when I don’t even know who the fuck I am, I write to remember.”
You suspect everyone will soon know precisely who Young is, especially after her acoustic live renditions of “Messy” and, as requested by U2 themselves, “With or Without You”.
“I’m fucking shitting myself,” she confessed ahead of the latter. “I hope I don’t botch your song guys…”
The standing ovation from Bono and co’s tables indicated she had no fears on that score.
Elsewhere, indie stalwarts Bloc Party – whose debut album, “Silent Alarm,” apparently came out 20 years ago, although everyone who fought the indie sleaze wars refuses to believe it – were handed the Outstanding Song Collection, while Irish singer-songwriter Orla Gartland won Best Song Musically & Lyrically for “Mine,” beating the likes of Lola Young and Fontaines D.C.
But it was left for U2 to wrap things up, playing “Angel of Harlem” – renamed “Angels of Harlesden” in tribute to their early North London fanbase and featuring Bono dropping in a snippet of “Dancing in the Dark” as an added Bruce bonus.
The crowd couldn’t quite believe its eyes, or its luck. Speaking of which, Ivors, good luck topping it next year…
The full list of The Ivors winners is below:
Best Album
“Who Am I”
Written and performed by Berwyn.
Music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing.
Best Contemporary Song
“Circumnavigating Georgia”
Written and performed by Sans Soucis.
Music published in the UK by Sentric Music
Best Song Musically And Lyrically
“Mine”
Written and performed by Orla Gartland.
Music published in the UK by San Remo Live-Kobalt Music Publishing.
PRS For Music Most Performed Work
“Stargazing”
Written by Peter Fenn, Jesse Fink and 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.
Performed by Myles Smith.
Rising Star Award With Amazon Music
Lola Young
Best Original Film Score
“The Substance”
Composed by Raffertie.
Music published in the UK by Universal Music Publishing obo Universal Pictures Music.
Best Original Video Game Score
“Farewell North”
Composed by John Konsolakis.
Best Television Soundtrack
“True Detective: Night Country”
Composed by Vince Pope.
Music published in the UK by Universal Music Publishing obo T-L Music Publishing.
Academy Fellowship
Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. for U2
Outstanding Song Collection
Kele Okereke, Russell Lissack, Gordon Moakes and Matt Tong for Bloc Party
PRS For Music Icon Award
Robbie Williams
Songwriter Of The Year With Amazon Music
Charli XCX
Special International Award
Brandon Flowers
Visionary Award With Amazon Music
Self Esteem
English (US) ·