Niall Horan honoured Modest! Management co-founders Richard Griffiths and Harry Magee at the Music Industry Trusts Awards 2019.
The pair became the first music managers to receive the highly prestigious award at the annual dinner on Monday night (04.11.19) at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.
After a four-decade career, the recipients were honoured with entertainment by their star studded artists – including Olly Murs, Katherine Jenkins, Alexis Ffrench, Alison Moyet, Rochelle and Marvin Humes, MNEK, Ironik, George Cosby, Mae Muller, Dylan, Miloš Karadaglić, Jamie Scott and Guy Barker.
Mae Muller – who is currently on tour with the managers’ artist Little Mix – exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "It’s always nice, it’s good to be here and support Richard and Harry.
"What they’ve done is amazing and it’s so nice to be able to work with them, and it’s always nice to get dressed up, innit, you know, always.
"I think it’s always nice to just show your support and, you know, you always bump into people that you’ve not seen in a while, which is always nice. And they’re always just quite, they’re quite fun."
Richard and Harry were presented with the award by legendary British film maker Richard Curtis with duo Rochelle and Marvin Humes hosting the night’s event.
Niall – who is still represented by the legendary duo after introducing his debut solo album ‘Flicker’ in 2017 – performed his latest single ‘Nice To Meet Ya’, as well as his hit ‘Slow Hands’ with fellow ‘X Factor’ alum Olly Murs.
Richard, 64, has worked with various stars providing live music, music publishing, record labels and artist management to musicians including AC/DC, Oasis, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Westlife, Enrique Iglesias and Linkin Park.
Meanwhile, Harry, 60, has a remarkable career in music retail and music publishing within independent and major labels.
He has worked with a range of stars including Berlin, Lisa Stansfield, Whitney Houston, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Westlife, Eurythmics and Foo Fighters.
The industry veterans joined forces in 2003 to form Modest! but their big break came in 2010 when they signed ‘X Factor’ runners up One Direction, who went on to sell 75 million albums, playing worldwide sell-out stadium tours and breaking industry records in the process.
Modest! have also been involved with various charities over the years and have raised over ÂŁ4 million encompassing The Horan & Rose Event (ÂŁ1.5m), Cheryl’s Trust (ÂŁ1m), the JLS Foundation (ÂŁ500k) and One Direction with raising over ÂŁ1m in a single campaign.