Sir Elton John To Be Honoured With First Ever Brit Icon Award

Abbie Bethell

Staff Writer

The man, the legend, Sir Elton John will be the first to receive the inaugural Brit’s Icon Award.

At a special show due to be held in September; singer-songwriter Elton John will be presented with the

first

everBrits Icon award. The celebration will be broadcast on ITV.

The ‘Brits Icon’ award will be presented annually to artists that have made a ‘lasting impact’ on British culture, through their music. With Sir Elton John’s

massive

back-catalogue and the release of his 30^th album, The Diving Board, it seems artists hoping to receive the prestigious award will have to be very well-accomplished. Perhaps fellow musicians David Bowie, Sir Paul McCartney and Kate Bush will be recipients in the future? Only time will tell.

When notified he was getting the award, John had this to say: “It’s a tremendous honour and a real thrill for me to have my work acknowledged in this way, and I’m really looking forward to participating in what promises to be a very special occasion.”

The chief executives of BPI (the

music

industry trade body behind the Brits) and The Brit Award revealed John had been chosen because of his “level of artistic creativity and originality, critical acclaim, global recognition and popular success”, adding that he is a “true icon of our cultural life”.

All proceeds from the Brit Icon show will be shared between the Brit Trust and Elton John’s former place of study, the Royal Academy of Music.

Sir Elton John’s latest album, The Diving Board,will be released on 16^th September.