Niall Horan has lavished praise at Noel Gallagher for writing "some of the greatest songs of all time" and admits the former Oasis star "100%" influenced his music career.

The former One Direction singer was honoured at the BMI Awards in London on Monday, alongside Noel Gallagher who picked up the President's Award for his prolific songwriting career with Oasis and now High Flying Birds.

Speaking at the event, where he was honoured with two medals for his singles Too Much To Ask and On The Loose, 26-year-old Horan said that he is "100%" influenced by the 52-year-old star.

"He's written some of the greatest songs of all time in my opinion. When I was growing up Wonderwall was one of the first songs I ever learned on guitar.

"He's written some of the most legendary songs of all time. He's a nice man and I'm delighted that they are honouring him," he said.

"Noel has written many an anthem. That's the great thing about his songs, they'll last forever and they go along to football songs and at weddings and anthems of any sort, people singing in the streets and anywhere, in Irish pubs.

"They are songs for every occasion and the last of the rock and roll era. Hopefully we can bring a bit of that back," Horan added.

The Mullingar man said he is "lucky" to be a songwriter who gets to perform on stage and be recognised for his work.

"I like to think of myself as a songwriter, I spend a lot of time writing songs," Horan said. "I've written a hundred odd this year, so when the good ones come out and you get honoured for it, it's such a good thing. It's amazing.

"I don't get to come to a lot of these things and I don't tend to go to a lot of music industry things but I feel so passionately about songwriting.

"I'm one of the lucky songwriters, I get to go out on stage and do it all the time. They're in the studio all the time and don't get... a lot of my mates don't get the plaudits that they deserve, and these are their nights more than mine because I get to see it every day."

Other winners at the BMI ceremony included singer-songwriter Raye, who was the first recipient of the new Impact Award "in recognition of her groundbreaking artistry, creative vision and impact on the future of music", and the late Avicii, real name Tim Bergling, who was honoured for his 2013 hit, Wake Me Up.

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