MUMBAI: Sir Paul McCartney will be bestowed with the Legion d’honneur France’s highest civilian award. The ex-Beatle will be given the medal by President Francois Hollande at a ceremony at the Elysee Palace on 8 September.
The British singer will receive the medal for his contribution to the field of music. The award is generally given to acknowledge outstanding public service and previous celebrity honorees include Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Quincy Jones, Barbara Streisand and Liza Minnelli.
McCartney, who has been knighted by the Queen of England in 1997 is one of the two surviving members of The Beatles along with drummer Ringo Starr.
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The Legion d’honneur or ‘Legion of Honour’ was founded by Napoleon in 1802. It has five grades- ‘Knight’, ‘Officer’, ‘Commander’, ‘Grand Officer’ and ‘Grand Cross’.
Sir Paul McCartney, 70, is the most influential songwriter in the history of popular music. He has already been awarded a knighthood by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.
In addition to his exemplary bass playing and vocal range, the ‘cute’ Beatle penned some of the band’s best loved songs like ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Hard Day’s Night’ alongside band mate John Lennon. He went on to forge a solo career, forming the band Wings with his first wife Linda.
He is considered as the most successful composer and recording artist of all time with with 60 gold discs and sales of more than 100 million albums and 100 million singles.
The honour carries social status but no money, and those bestowed with the award have to pay for their medals. The general cost of the medal is about $600.
