Adele and PJ Harvey became Members of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire this week when the Queen awarded them MBEs in her annual Birthday Honours list. Both singers were honoured for their services to the music industry.
This rounds up a year of prestigious awards for Adele, who now goes by the title, Miss Adele Adkins MBE. In 2013 the chart-topper won a Best Original Song Oscar for Skyfall, as well as a Grammy, a Golden Globe, a Brit and a Critics Choice Award. Earlier this week, her album 21 was named Amazon’s top selling album of all time.
PJ Harvey also made the history books when in 2011 her most recent album, Let England Shake, made her the first artist ever to win Britain’s prestigious Mercury Prize twice. Harvey’s eighth solo studio release is a collection of songs with its content focused on the nation’s history of war, many written from the perspective of soldiers themselves.
The BBC reports a total of 1,180 people are named on the Birthday Honours list with almost half of them women. Blackadder actor Tony Robinson was amongst those knighted on the list along with sculptor Anish Kapoor. The artists will receive their honours at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London on Thursday 19 December.
