Harry Styles crossed the English Channel from Amsterdam, where he is in the middle of a 10-date tour, to present Thom Yorke with the Academy Fellowship at the Ivor Novello Awards in London this week. The appearance was meant to be a surprise, but Elton John inadvertently revealed it by mentioning he had seen Styles backstage during his own speech.
The awards, now officially known as the Ivors with Amazon Music, marked their 71st year. According to Variety, the ceremony was less a polished spectacle and more what the publication described as a deeply human, hot mess of a show, shaped heavily by widespread frustration over artificial intelligence and low streaming payments.
Styles handled the spoiled surprise with ease. After thanking "Elton for that wonderful introduction," he spoke about what Radiohead's music has meant to him personally. "I lost my virginity to 'Talk Show Host,'" he told the crowd. After a pause, he added: "Well, I lost my virginity to the intro to 'Talk Show Host'."
He went on to draw a direct line from Radiohead to his own solo work. "Without 'Exit Music', there would be no 'Watermelon Sugar'. Imagine that. A world without that song? It doesn't bear thinking about."
Elton John had his own significant evening. He arrived expecting to present Sam Fender with the Songwriter of the Year prize but ended up receiving multiple honors himself, including an Ivors Academy Honour and becoming the first ever President of the Ivors Academy.
The broader mood of the night was shaped by the music industry's ongoing tensions with AI. Ivors bosses Tom Gray and Roberto Neri warned the assembled crowd about how difficult conditions remain for working songwriters. A string of artists and songwriters used their time on stage to criticize AI companies and others seen as not prioritizing songwriters' interests. Previous ceremonies had featured U2, Bruce Springsteen, Ed Sheeran, Paul McCartney, and Lana Del Rey, and this year's lineup was similarly high-profile, though the tone was sharper.
Rosalia and Lola Young were among the big winners on the night.
