At her annual New Year’s Honours ceremony, in which she exercises a power that only she has under British law in anointing a new members of the “orders of chivalry,” both former Beatle Ringo Starr and the Bee Gees Barry Gibb were officially knighted, among other contributors to the arts, science, public service, and more.
In 1965, Starr, whose legal name is Richard Starkey, was knighted along with his Fab Four bandmates in 1965 as Members of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE). However, Paul McCartney, the only other surviving member of what many consider to be the most influential band of all time, was knighted on his own in 1997, and until this year had remained the only individual band member to receive the honor. This year, the Queen honored Starr as an individual member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for “services to music.”
Many people, including McCartney himself, have long voiced their opinion that Starr deserved the honor as well. In 2011, he told NME that it was “about time,” and joked about putting in a good word to the Queen for his former bandmate: “The last time I went by [Queen Elizabeth] was out. Otherwise, I would have popped in and said ‘Look, love, Sir Richard Starkey,'” McCartney said (via The Telegraph).
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In a statement following the announcement of his solo knighthood, Starr told the BBC, “It’s great! It’s an honour and a pleasure to be considered and acknowledged for my music and my charity work, both of which I love. Peace and love.” Starr’s charity work includes donations to causes supporting AIDS awareness, abused children, human rights, poverty around the world and the creative arts.
Gibb was knighted as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) alongside the Bee Gees in 2004 but, like Starr, didn’t receive his own knighthood until this year. He was given a “Knights Bachelor” for his “services to Music and charity.” In a statement, he muses, “I’m deeply honoured, humbled, and very proud…This is a moment to be treasured and never forgotten. I want to acknowledge how responsible my brothers are for this honour. It is as much theirs as it is mine.”
Other honorees this year include Soft Cell singer Marc Almond, House actor Hugh Laurie and U.K. grime rapper Wiley.For a full list of Queen Elizabeth’s 2018 New Year’s Honours here via the U.K. government website.
[h/t – Rolling Stone]