George Michael Nominated For Prestigious Ivor Novello Award

Legendary singer-songwriter George Michael has been nominated for the prestigious Ivor Novello Award in the ‘Most Performed Work’ category recognizing his enduring contribution as the songwriter of WHAM!’s beloved holiday classic “Last Christmas.” Written, arranged and produced by George at the age of 21, the track continues to resonate across generations and cultures, making its mark as one of the most played songs of the holiday season.

This year’s nomination follows a landmark year for “Last Christmas,” which reached No.1 on the UK Singles Chart on Christmas Day for the second consecutive year and achieved its highest ever position on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No.3. The song also achieved its highest-ever placements on both the Billboard Streaming Songs chart and Digital Song Sales chart.

George Michael remains the only individual songwriter in history to receive the prestigious Ivor Novello “Songwriter of the Year“ award three times, in 1985, 1989, and 1997. In 1985, at just 21 years old, he became the youngest recipient of an Ivor Novello Award.

George Michael has won six Ivor Novello Awards and has now received thirteen nominations. This marks his first Ivor Novello nomination in two decades.

Singer, Songwriter, Producer, Philanthropist and Creative Icon, George Michael is considered one of the most influential recording artists of all time. He rose to fame in the 1980’s as a member of the duo WHAM! selling over 30 million records. He later embarked on a solo career and sold over 125 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart eight times in the US and hitting the No.1 spot on the UK singles charts seven times as a solo artist and redefining pop music in the process.

He won six Ivor Novello Awards and remains the only individual songwriter ever to win their prestigious Songwriter of The Year Award three times. He won two Grammys, was nominated nine times, and won four American Music Awards as well as winning twelve Billboard awards and being nominated forty times. He also won three BRIT Awards. Billboard has listed him among the “Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time”, and Rolling Stone, in the “200 Greatest Singers of All Time”. In 2004, George was named by the Radio Academy as the “Most Played Artist” on British radio over the previous 20 years, and in November 2023 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

During a career that spanned thirty-five years, he famously duetted with Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Mary J. Blige, Paul McCartney and Queen, and his songs have been covered by Adele, Chris Martin, Ariana Grande, H.E.R, Miguel, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift Olli Alexander and Christine and the Queens to name but a few. He is also considered one of the most significant cultural icons of his generation and was known as a leading creative force in music production, songwriting, vocal performance and visual presentation. His songs remain a part of the fabric of our culture, many achieving over a Billion Streams, and include “Careless Whisper,” “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” “Faith,” “Freedom 90’,” “Father Figure,” “Last Christmas,” “Fastlove,” “Club Tropicana,” “Jesus To A Child,” “Praying For Time” and many more.