December 30, 2006 13:24

Rod Stewart gets New Year honour

Singer receives a CBE for his services to music

Rod Stewart has been awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours List.

The 61-year-old singer has received the honour for his services to the music industry over more than 40 years.

During that time, Stewart has sold more than 200 million records around the world.

"Although I'm living in California, I'm very proud to be British," he said. "We will be celebrating the good news later today."

Last year the singer was also inducted into the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and he received a Grammy Award for 'Stardust', the third instalment in his 'Great American Songbook' series.

Ironically, three years ago on the opening night of West End musical 'Tonight's The Night', which featured 20 of his songs, Stewart admitted that he was mystified as to why he had never been honoured by the Queen, reports BBC News.

The singer joins the likes of U2 singer Bono who will also be honoured in a special ceremony in Dublin in the New Year.