DONOVAN HONOURED BY FRENCH GOVERNMENT

Last updated: Monday, January 19, 2009

DONOVAN HONOURED BY FRENCH GOVERNMENT

Folk legend DONOVAN was hailed as "a genuine poet" when he was honoured with a prestigious cultural award from leaders of the French government on Sunday (18Jan09).

The Scottish-born singer was made an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters for his contributions to music by Culture Minister Christine Albane at a ceremony in Cannes.

Previous recipients of the award include singer Bob Dylan, novelist Salman Rushdie and pop star Kylie Minogue.

And Donovan, who rose to fame in the 1960s with hits such as Mellow Yellow, Hurdy Gurdy Man and Jennifer Juniper, was delighted to be given the accolade.

He says, "I take it for all the work I've done over the years to bring poetry back to popular culture. To get an honour like this confirmed to me that it was successful, that my work was accepted on my terms, rather than becoming an entertainer.

"I wanted to be entertaining, but to bring to the world a sense of meaning again."

Source: WENN

| Monday, January 19, 2009

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