Topics: Harry Styles, Music, Elton John
Harry Styles flew across the Channel mid-tour to pay tribute to his musical hero Thom Yorke, and ended up telling the entire room how long he lasted the first time he had sex.
The former One Direction star, whose Together, Together tour is currently underway in Amsterdam, broke away from his 10-date run to appear in London on Thursday night for the Ivor Novello Awards, the UK's most prestigious songwriting ceremony, where he presented Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke with the Fellowship of the Academy, the Ivors' highest honour.
The whole thing had already been accidentally spoiled before Styles even took the stage. Sir Elton John, who had shown up thinking he was presenting Sam Fender with a Songwriter of the Year prize, before ending up being showered with awards of his own including an Ivors Academy Honour and being made the first ever President of the Ivors Academy, casually mentioned he'd spotted Harry backstage during his own speech, prompting gasps and laughter from a crowd that had no idea Styles was even there.
But fear not, Harry 'styled' it out, thanking Sir Elton for "a wonderful introduction".
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Taking to the stage, Styles opened by noting he was born the year after Radiohead's debut album came out, drawing laughter at his own expense, before getting into the real stuff.
"I lost my virginity to 'Talk Show Host,'" he told the audience. He paused, then corrected himself: "I lost my virginity to the intro of 'Talk Show Host.'"
For those unfamiliar, the intro to Talk Show Host lasts approximately ten seconds. Harry did not elaborate further. He didn't need to.
He also credited the 1997 Radiohead track 'Exit Music (For a Film)' with directly inspiring him while writing 'Watermelon Sugar', joking: "Imagine that: a world without that song."
Beyond the crowd-pleasing confessions, Styles used the speech to make clear just how seriously he takes Yorke's influence on his own artistry.
"I 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," he said of Thom at the ceremony, held at the Grosvenor House in central London.
Styles also revealed that watching Radiohead perform in Berlin in 2025 was what gave him the inspiration to go back out on tour, meaning Harry's fans have Thom Yorke to thank for the fact that they're getting a tour at all.
