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Hozier feels 'so encouraged' after winning an Ivor Novello Award.

The 25-year-old singer won best song musically and lyrically for his hit song Take Me to Church. The track was his debut single, and the Irishman cannot believe how much it has changed his life in such a short space of time.

'This time last year I was completely unknown and this music was written alone in my attic," he told the BBC."I'm so encouraged. This is a huge deal for me."

His win follows his success at the Billboard Music Awards at the weekend where he picked up two gongs.

The Ivor Novellos are presented by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA). Other winners included Ed Sheeran, who was named songwriter of the year, while Ozzy Osbourne's band Black Sabbath received the Lifetime Achievement Award which was presented by Queen's Brian May.

'It's been a good 40 years. At least, I think it has,' joked drummer Bill Ward.

Earlier in the day, the band's main songwriter Tony Iommi told the outlet that the group would hit the road one last time in 2016, following his diagnosis with cancer.

"We've tried to cut down because of my treatments," he said. "We can't just keep going round like we used to."

Another big winner was former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox. The 60-year-old was awarded the fellowship of the BASCA, which is the society's highest honour.

'I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't become a singer-songwriter because creating music was all I ever wanted to do,' she confessed. 'I'm incredibly privileged to become the first woman fellow of Basca. With this, the glass ceiling is broken."