{"id":440090,"date":"2026-05-22T13:49:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/440090\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T13:49:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:49:14","slug":"harry-styles-says-he-lost-his-virginity-to-radioheads-talk-show-host-check-out-his-full-speech-in-tribute-to-thom-yorke-at-the-ivor-novellos-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/440090\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry Styles says he lost his virginity to Radiohead\u2019s \u2018Talk Show Host\u2019 \u2013 check out his full speech in tribute to Thom Yorke at the Ivor Novellos 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harry Styles<\/a> made a surprise appearance at the Ivors 2026<\/a> to introduce Academy Fellowship winner Thom Yorke<\/a> last night (Thursday May 21). Read on for his full speech, where he revealed that he lost his virginity to Radiohead<\/a>\u2018s \u2018Talk Show Host\u2019.<\/p>\n

Yorke picked up the prize at the 71st Ivor Novello Awards<\/a>, which took place at Grosvenor House in London. The prestigious ceremony celebrated the craft, cultural impact and enduring importance of songs and screen compositions.<\/p>\n

The Radiohead frontman, soloist, and The Smile<\/a> member received the Academy Fellowship alongside George Michael<\/a>, who was posthumously awarded the statue. They follow in the footsteps of previous winners Bruce Springsteen<\/a>, U2<\/a>, Kate Bush<\/a>, Paul McCartney<\/a> and more.<\/p>\n

Taking time out of his huge \u2018Together, Together\u2019 tour<\/a>, Styles turned up to pay tribute to Yorke, and called Radiohead his \u201cfavourite band\u201d. He shared that he \u201clost [his] virginity to the intro to \u2018Talk Show Host’\u201d \u2013 the fan-favourite B-side to \u2018The Bends\u2019 single \u2018Street Spirit (Fade Out)\u2019 (1996).<\/p>\n

The pop star told those in the room that it was \u201ca truly terrifying honour\u201d to be speaking about Yorke in front of him. Check out the full speech from Styles below.<\/p>\n

Harry Styles, Ivor Novello Awards 2026 speech:<\/p>\n

\u201cThom Yorke has always had a way with words.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor so many of us, he lives atop this magical music mountain that we\u2019re all attempting to climb.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of you had Radiohead albums at the time they were released. Their debut album came out the year before I was born. I\u2019m gonna let that sink in. So 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to my uncle Michael for burning her numerous CDs as he tried to convince her of some of what he referred to as \u2018some of the weirder stuff\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found them again at parties [and] in treasured moments alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost my virginity to \u2018Talk Show Host\u2019. I lost my virginity to the intro of \u2018Talk Show Host\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThom\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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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. \u2018Thank God, someone would think that\u2019, I used to think. That alien, that prowling ghost, that angry prophet, Thom Yorke.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout \u2018Exit Music\u2019 there would be no \u2018Watermelon Sugar\u2019. Imagine that. A world without that song. It doesn\u2019t bear thinking about.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, 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 honour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time I met Thom, I was walking in the street in Rome. The previous evening at dinner, listening to The Smiles\u2019 \u2018Bending Hectic\u2019, 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next day, \u2018A Moon Shaped Pool\u2019<\/a> playing in my headphones, I found myself alone with him on a quiet cobbled street.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Hello, Mr Yorke\u2019, I said. \u2018Oh, it\u2019s you. Hello\u2019, 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wizard was also a human.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen 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 with me, holidays with synthesiser.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo quote Thom, \u2018I have no idea what you\u2019re talking about. Your mouth moves only with someone\u2019s hand up your arse. Has the light cut out for you? Because the light\u2019s gone out for me. It is the 21st century\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message is clear. Commit to your humour and your heartbreak. Only cowards meet our complicated, beautiful world with distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honour to be here tonight to present Thom with this recognition of his enduring influence on British music. Radiohead is my favourite band. Thank you, Thom, forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"harryHarry Styles. Credit: Laura Jane Coulson<\/p>\n

Other winners at last night\u2019s Ivors included Sam Fender<\/a>, Rosal\u00eda<\/a>, CMAT<\/a>, Lily Allen<\/a>, Jacob Alon<\/a>, Lola Young<\/a> and Kano<\/a>. Check out the full list here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The likes of Wolf Alice<\/a>,\u00a0Olivia Dean<\/a>,\u00a0Coldplay<\/a>,\u00a0Little Simz<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Florence Welch<\/a> were among the nominees.<\/p>\n

Styles is set to bring his \u2018Together, Together\u2019 tour<\/a> to London next month, when he\u2019ll play a record-breaking 12 nights at Wembley Stadium<\/a>. He is out on the road in support of his fourth album, \u2018Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally\u2019<\/a>. The singer launched the record with his \u2018One Night Only\u2019 show in Manchester<\/a> earlier this year, filming the performance for a Netflix special<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Check back at NME for interviews and more from the Ivors 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harry Styles made a surprise appearance at the Ivors 2026 to introduce Academy Fellowship winner Thom Yorke last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69,4913,1629],"class_list":["post-440090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pop","tag-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}