The Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith, the poet Lemn Sissay and the singer-songwriter Alison Moyet were among notable figures in the arts to be recognized in the birthday honors list of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.
In a list dominated once again by the heroes and heroines of the COVID-19 pandemic, and particularly key players in Britain’s successful vaccine rollout, there remained room to laud the achievements of people in the nation’s fields of arts, culture and sports.
Leith has entered the most senior ranks of the Order of the British Empire by becoming a dame, alongside the sculptor Phyllida Barlow and the Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Philips.
Photo: AP
The actor Jonathan Pryce, who played Pope Francis in The Two Popes and the High Sparrow in Game of Thrones, has also been awarded the highest honor, receiving a knighthood after having been given a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2009.
A number of female singer-songwriters have also been recognized in the honors list this year, including Skin (real name Deborah Ann Dyer), who is best known as the frontwoman of the rock band Skunk Anansie, who has been given an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to music.
Lulu, who last year was made an OBE, was made a CBE for services to music, entertainment and charity, while Moyet, the singer of It Won’t Be Long and Invisible, was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to music.
Also in the world of music, Arnold George Dorsey, better known as Engelbert Humperdinck, was made an MBE for services to music, while John Heath Summers, the CEO of the Halle Orchestra, and the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber were made OBEs.
In the literary world, the historical fiction blockbuster novelist Philippa Gregory, the author of The Red Queen and The Other Boleyn Girl, was made a CBE, alongside the pioneering publisher and writer Margaret Busby, and the writer and potter Edmund de Waal, who was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2011.
Sissay was given an OBE alongside the children’s and young adults’ writer David Almond.
In the sporting sphere, the commentator Sue Barker was made a CBE for services to sport, broadcasting and charity, alongside the former Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson, who received the same honor for services to soccer.
Leeds Rhinos director of rugby Kevin Sinfield received an OBE for services to the rugby league and charitable fundraising for motor neuron disease.
While debate continues about the England soccer team’s decision to keep taking the knee to combat racism in the sport, Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling was made an MBE for services to racial equality, while Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson got the same honor for services to charity.
Other perhaps lesser known figures in the arts were also celebrated, such as Catherine Elizabeth McGill, the director of Folk Arts Oxford, who received a British Empire Medal for services to the arts after transforming the Folk Weekend Oxford festival into an entirely online event in four weeks when a lockdown was announced, and the 23-year-old saxophonist Jess Gillam, who received the same award for “animating the music world with her outstanding talent and infectious personality.”
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