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Glastonbury creator Michael Eavis CBE has been honoured with a Music Industry Trusts Award for his outstanding contribution to live music in the UK.
Following on in the footsteps of Ahmet Eretgun, Sir Elton John and Sir Tom Jones who had previously received the award, Eavis appeared genuinely shocked to receive the recognition at the ceremony last night.
Speaking at the event he said: "After crawling through a hole in the hedge to take a peep at Freddie Bannister‘s Bath Blues Festival in 1970, I can’t believe that 44years of semi-controlled chaos has led to me receiving this prestigious award. Thank you all so much."
The award was presented to Eavis by Lars Ulrich who headlined Glastonbury this year. Ulrich explained (as reported by The Guardian): "Michael is a peculiar mixture of big and small (and I don’t just mean physically!) … he is the living human embodiment of everything this festival encompasses, the unique combination of humility and purity mixed with the fact that for this one weekend every year, he is the most powerful man in England. I was about a second and a half into my encounter with him when I realised he had greeted me like an old, long lost friend, like someone with whom I had shared many late night beverages and tall tales."
Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Dolly Parton were among those paid tribute to Eavis unique talents. Tributes also came in from Lily Allen ("Your festival is literally better than Christmas."), Damon Albarn ("I'd like to thank you for your husbandry of the musical health of the British Isles and far further afield.") and Coldplay ("Thank you for the incredible experiences you've given us and so many others").
The Music Industry Trusts Award, now in its 23rd year, has raised more than £4.5 million for Nordoff Robbins and the BRIT Trust.
All 150,000 tickets for Glastonbury sold out in record time. Fleetwood Mac are currently bookies' favourites to headline, with AC/DC and Muse also hotly-tipped.
Glastonbury 2015 takes place from Wednesday 24 to Sunday 28 June, with other rumoured acts including Foo Fighters, Queen, Depeche Mode, AC/DC, Diana Ross, Foals and Fatboy Slim.
Below: Glastonbury Headliners: The bookies' favourites
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