Harry Styles made a quick trip across the Channel during his tour to honour one of his biggest musical inspirations, Thom Yorke — and in the process shared a very personal overshare about the first time he had sex.
The former One Direction singer, currently in Amsterdam as part of his Together, Together tour, briefly stepped away from his 10-date run to attend the Ivor Novello Awards in London on Thursday. At the ceremony — widely regarded as the UK’s leading celebration of songwriting — Styles presented Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke with the Fellowship of the Academy, the top accolade at the Ivors.
His appearance nearly wasn’t a surprise. Earlier in the night, Sir Elton John (who arrived expecting to hand Sam Fender the Songwriter of the Year award) ended up receiving a string of honours himself, including an Ivors Academy Honour and becoming the first-ever President of the Ivors Academy. During his speech, he casually revealed he’d seen Styles backstage, triggering shocked laughs from an audience that hadn’t realised Harry was in the building.
When Styles finally appeared, he brushed off the accidental reveal and thanked Elton for “a wonderful introduction”.
Once at the microphone, Styles opened by pointing out he was born a year after Radiohead released their debut album — a self-deprecating line that landed well in the room — before shifting into what he really came to say.
“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 anyone who doesn’t know the track, the intro runs for roughly ten seconds. Styles didn’t add any more detail — and didn’t really have to.
He also named another Radiohead song as a key creative spark, saying 1997’s ‘Exit Music (For a Film)’ helped shape his mindset while writing ‘Watermelon Sugar’. He added: “Imagine that: a world without that song.”
After the laughs, Styles made it clear the admiration wasn’t just playful fan talk — Yorke’s work, he said, has had a lasting impact on how he thinks about making music.
“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 shared that seeing Radiohead perform in Berlin in 2025 helped push him back toward touring again — suggesting that, in a roundabout way, Yorke’s influence is part of why Styles’ fans are getting this latest run of shows in the first place.