New Year Honours 2023: Grayson Perry and Brian May lead cultural roll call
Artist Grayson Perry and Queen guitarist Brian May have been knighted, leading the cultural names who have been included in the New Year Honours.
Stephen Graham and David Harewood are among the actors to be honoured, both being appointed OBEs.
Pioneering 1960s fashion designer Mary Quant, already a dame, is elevated to a Companion of Honour.
TV presenter Anne Diamond, comedian Frank Skinner and Countdown’s Rachel Riley are also on the list.
Brian May becomes Sir Brian months after his band helped launch the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert in front of Buckingham Palace.
He is rewarded for services to music and to charity, after more than 50 years in one of Britain’s most popular rock bands.
Grayson Perry – and his alter-ego Claire – shot to fame when he won the Turner Prize in 2003, and he is known for his pottery works and tapestries that give his take on British life.
His gong for services to the arts comes after Grayson’s Art Club became a hit on Channel 4 during the pandemic, gathering works from members of the public to be included in exhibitions around the UK.
Another acclaimed artist, John Akomfrah, known for video installations dealing with post-colonialism and migration, also becomes a knight; as does former BBC Two controller and current British Library chief executive Roly Keating.
Dame Mary Quant, who is widely credited with popularising the mini skirt, joins the exclusive Order of the Companions of Honour. It is reserved for people who have made a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine or government, and has only 65 members at any one time.
There are CBEs for Oscar-nominated film and TV composer George Fenton, whose soundtracks range from Gandhi to Sir David Attenborough’s Planet Earth; and theatre producer Sonia Friedman, who has staged shows including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Jerusalem.
Stephen Graham, known for TV dramas like Help, Time and Line of Duty, becomes a CBE for services to drama.
David Harewood gets the same honour for services to drama and charity. He has starred in Homeland, Supergirl and such documentaries as Will Britain Ever Have A Black Prime Minister? and My Psychosis And Me.
Well-loved broadcaster Anne Diamond is also made a CBE for services to public health and charity. She has campaigned to reduce cot deaths since the death of her own young son in 1991.
Jazz saxophonist YolanDa Brown, who is appointed CBE, has presented TV shows like YolanDa’s Band Jam on CBeebies, and held senior positions behind the scenes in the music industry and music education.
And comic illustrator David Sutherland, who created characters like Dennis the Menace and the Bash Street Kids for The Beano, is also appointed CBE.
Meanwhile, MBEs go to Cleo Sylvestre, the first black actor to have a leading role at London’s National Theatre; veteran comic and presenter Frank Skinner; and Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon.
Countdown co-host Rachel Riley is appointed MBE for services to Holocaust education. She is also known for speaking out about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and this year won two libel cases arising from that furore.
Investigative journalist Catherine Belton receives the same honour. Her 2020 book Putin’s People attracted five lawsuits brought by Russian oligarchs and firms.
Singer Janet Kay, known for the 1979 Lovers’ Rock hit Silly Games, is also appointed MBE; along with playwright Rachel De-Lahay.
Producer and radio presenter DJ Spoony is awarded the British Empire Medal for services to charities through music during Covid-19.
