Queen Elizabeth II announced her semi-annual list of honors on Thursday, naming performer and producer Trevor Horn as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) and Annie Lennox and Richard Thompson as OBE's (Order of the British Empire).
The honors, which the queen bestows twice per year, are given at a number of different levels. At the top are Knighthoods, which allow the receivers to be known as Sir and Dame. The lower honors do not carry the title but honorees can add their particular order to their names. In descending order, they are CBE (Commander of the British Empire), OBE (Order of the British Empire) and MBE (Member of the British Empire).
Trevor Horn receives his CBE for his service to the music industry. Horn originally formed the Buggles (Video Killed the Radio Star) in 1978 and went on to produce (and many times perform on) albums by Yes, ABC, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the Pet Shop Boys, Seal, Rod Stewart, Robbie Williams and many others.
Richard Thompson also receives his OBE for his service to music. He was a founding member of Fairport Convention and went on to critical acclaim, both as a solo performer and with his ex-wife Linda, as a superb guitarist and songwriter.
Annie Lennox, on the other hand, is receiving her OBE not for music, but for her work with Oxfam in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Lennox was honored by the award but added "As somewhat of a renegade, it either means I've done something terribly right or they've done something terribly wrong."
She also said that she was getting "getting my fake leopard pillbox hat dusted and ready" for the official presentation of the award at Buckingham Palace.
The honors are usually given to those outside the limelight with other music-oriented awards going to those with more philanthropic contributions. One of those honored was Herbert Ketzmer, writer of Yesterday, When I Was Young (a hit for Roy Clark) and lyricist for the Broadway musical Les Misérables.
VVN Music