<\/p>\n
\n\tHarry Styles<\/a> introduced Radiohead<\/a>\u2019s Thom Yorke<\/a> at the 2026 Ivor Novello<\/a> Awards<\/a> with a five-minute speech<\/a> that was eloquent, heartfelt, funny and charming. \u201cIt\u2019s always nerve-wracking stepping onto a stage, but to know that a man I\u2019ve spent so much of my life listening to is now listening to me talk to you about him is a truly terrifying honor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tStyles presented Yorke with a fellowship prize at the Ivors, which were held at the Grosvenor House in central London on Thursday (May 21).<\/p>\n \n\tStyles noted that he was born the year after Radiohead\u2019s debut album, Pablo Honey<\/em>, was released, a comment that drew laughter at the idea of a young man calling attention to the age difference. \u201cJust going to let that sink,\u201d he said, drawing even more laughter.<\/p>\n \n\tStyles also pointed out that he lost his virginity to Radiohead\u2019s \u201cTalk Show Host.\u201d He thought a moment and corrected himself. \u201cI lost my virginity to the intro<\/em> to \u2018Talk Show Host.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHere\u2019s Styles\u2019 speech introducing his hero, in full. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThom Yorke has always had a way with words<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tOver his almost 35 years of releasing music, he has taken feelings of anxiety and alienation, and turned them into atmospheres, anthems and art. From guitars to glitches, he has time and time again shown us what the future sounds like. Never compromising, a restless creative, an artist in its truest form. There are no two songs that sound alike.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tFor so many of us, he lives atop this magical music mountain that we\u2019re all attempting to climb.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tSome of you had Radiohead albums at the time they were released. Their debut album came out the year before I was born. [laughter] Just gonna let that sink. [more laughter]<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tSo, I discovered their songs over time growing up inhaling the secondhand teenage angst from up the stairs separating my sister\u2019s bedroom from where I sat below doing my homework.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tThank you to my uncle Michael for burning her numerous CDs to try to convince her of some of what he referred to as some of the weirdest stuff<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tI found them again at parties [and] in treasured moments alone.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tI lost my virginity to \u201cTalk Show Host.\u201d [laughter] I lost my virginity to the intro of \u201cTalk Show Host.\u201d [more laughter]<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tThom\u2019s work is music that is felt. It\u2019s always been somewhat of a religious experience to me. Religious in the sense that understanding seemed to go both ways.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tI always felt I could uniquely understand the writer of these songs, and at last someone was capturing what it feels like at times to be human. Thank God, someone would think that, I used to think. That alien, that prowling ghost, that angry prophet, Thom Yorke.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tI cannot overstate how his work has influenced my belief in the purpose of the arts in our world today, and I cannot overstate how much his work continues to influence me.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tWithout \u2018Exit Music,\u2019 there would be no \u201cWatermelon Sugar.\u201d \u00a0Imagine that. [laughter] A world without that song [playing off the laughter].<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tNow, it\u2019s always nerve-wracking stepping onto a stage, but to know that a man I\u2019ve spent so much of my life listening to is now listening to me talk to you about him is a truly terrifying honor. The first time I met Thom, I was walking in the street in Rome. The previous evening at dinner, listening to The Smiles\u2019 \u201cBending Hectic,\u201d my friend had asked me if I\u2019d ever met him, and I said that I hadn\u2019t. Maybe it was better that way. I\u2019d always been worried that he might be mean to me and emotionally I would never recover.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tThe next day, \u2018A Moon Shaped Pool\u2019 playing in my headphones. I found myself alone with him on a quiet cobbled street.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHello, Mr. Yorke,\u201d I said. \u201cOh, it\u2019s you. Hello,\u201d he replied. I was overwhelmed during our conversations. Our time with giants is not to be squandered. The weight of the moments with the men who have made us is to be noticed. He was light, he was friendly and he was kind.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tIn a world where outside noise tends to leak into our awareness without permission, among our resented desire to please, a small kindness extended to you by a hero can be enough to release you. I beamed, and I\u2019ve been beaming ever since.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tThe wizard was also a human.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tWhen asking Thom\u2019s friends to describe him in three words, they said he was compassionate, sensitive, devoted, bold, unique, untouchable, challenging, true punk, Not For Sale, or as his wife shared me, holidays with synthesizer,<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tTo quote Thom, \u201cI have no idea what you\u2019re talking about. Your mouth moves only with someone\u2019s hand up your ass. Has the light cut out for you? Because the light\u2019s gone out for me.\u201d It is the 21st century. The message is clear. Commit to your humor and your heartbreak. Only cowards meet our complicated, beautiful world with distance.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s an honor to be here tonight to present Thom with this recognition of his enduring influence on British music. Radiohead is my favorite band. Thank you Thom forever.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n<\/div>\n