M.I.A. Named MBE

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

M.I.A. Named MBE

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

M.I.A. is now an MBE. The BBC reports that the singer and rapper, whose full name is Mathangi Arulpragasam, was named a Member Of The Order Of The British Empire for her services to music on the Queen’s Birthday Honours list yesterday.

Elvis Costello was also named an Officer Of The Order Of The British Empire. “It confirms my long held suspicion nobody really listens to the words in songs or the outcome might have been somewhat different,” he said in a statement.

Other musicians on the list include former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey (OBE), singer-songwriter Andrew Roachford (MBE), composer Anna Meredith, (MBE), pianist Joanna MacGregor (CBE), singer Jacqueline Dankworth (MBE), and singer Alfie Boe (OBE).

On the non-music side, actor Simon Russell Beale has been knighted, Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman has been awarded a CBE under her real name, Sarah Sinclair, and noted pee-drinker Bear Grylls has been named an OBE.

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