Image source, Press Association
Image caption, Cerys Matthews received an OBE for services to music
Singer and presenter Cerys Matthews paid tribute to her family as she received an OBE.
Matthews, from Cardiff, was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to music and received a medal from the Prince of Wales.
The 57-year-old hosts a BBC Radio 6 Music show every Sunday and was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia who shot to fame during the “Cool Cymru” movement of the 1990s.
Speaking after the ceremony, Matthews said she accepted the OBE in memory of her family and “in gratitude of the freedoms I have as a female in this era”.
Matthews’ voice is also familiar to many over the Christmas holidays because of her 1999 rendition of Baby It’s Cold Outside, sung with Sir Tom Jones.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Matthews’ Catatonia shot to fame during the “Cool Cymru” movement in the 1990s
After the ceremony she said Prince William discussed Catatonia with her, adding he “evidently” was a fan.
Matthews wore Black Watch tartan – Scotland’s royal regimental tartan – to the ceremony in memory of her grandfather Oswald, who served in World War Two and took part in the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy in 1944.
She said her grandmother, Olive, did not have the freedom to pursue music because of economic and societal barriers as a young, working-class wartime bride.
Image source, Press Association
Image caption, Matthews said Prince William was “evidently” a fan of Catatonia
“I’m here in their memory,” she said.
“I grew up in the 80s and 90s as a female who loved music, and I’ve been allowed, and I’ve thrived, in the music industry.
“Sharing other people’s music and making my own, and I accept this honour in their memory, and in gratitude of the freedoms I have as a female in this era.
“This positive change… I hope it continues across the world.”
Meanwhile, techno DJ Carl Cox received an OBE for services to music after being a major figure in the British dance music scene for more than four decades.
Image source, Press Association
Image caption, Techno DJ Carl Cox also received an OBE for services to music
The Manchester-born artist said: “By next year, I would have been putting needle on the record for 50 years, so it’s quite a thing to be able to still keep doing something, even at my time of my life as a 64-year-old man.”
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