Sting awarded a Fellowship at the Ivor Novello Awards

Sting has been awarded a Fellowship at the Ivor Academy Awards which took place in London on Thursday, with his wife Trudie Styler at his side.

The 'Every Breath You Take' writer and singer has sold more than 100 million albums from his time with the rock band The Police and as a solo artist.

Harry Styles, Charli XCX, Raye and indie rock duo Wet Leg were among the other winners at the annual awards for songwriters and screen composers.

Sting, who already boasts seven Ivor Novello awards, becomes the Academy's 23rd Fellow, the highest honour bestowed by the UK-based association for music writers. He joins the likes of Elton John, Paul McCartney, Kate Bush and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

"A couple of years ago, I got the lifetime achievement award, which I thought was a little bit premature, so this is somehow beyond that," Sting, born Gordon Sumner, said on the red carpet ahead of the ceremony.

"It sounds a bit like ‘Lord of the Rings’ to me but I think the fellowship has certain duties attached to it. I think one of the things that is important is to protect the rights of songwriters, not just established songwriters like me but young up-and-coming songwriters."

His remarks come after he warned of an oncoming “battle” between humans and Artificial Intelligence with regard to songwriting:

“The building blocks of music belong to us, to human beings,” he said, adding, “That’s going to be a battle we all have to fight in the next couple of years: Defending our human capital against AI,” he said.

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Other winners at the awards were Wet Leg's Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, who took the Songwriter of the Year award in recognition of their chart-topping eponymous debut album, while best contemporary song went to Raye's 'Escapism'.

Music collective Sault's '11' was named best album while best song musically and lyrically went to 'King' by Florence + the Machine.

Harry Styles received an impressive three nominations in this year's awards for his critically acclaimed third album 'Harry's House'. His hit 'As It Was' won the most performed work category, while rock band James received the music icon award.

Other winners included Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, who received the special international award, while Victoria Canal became the fourth consecutive female songwriter to win the rising star category since its introduction in 2020.

Named after the early 20th-century Welsh composer, actor and entertainer Ivor Novello, the Ivor Awards were first handed out in 1956.