Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and Dunkirk director Christopher Nolan were among the more than 1,100 people recognized on Queen Elizabeth’s New Year’s Honours list, which annually honors “the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the United Kingdom.”
Mason, the lone Pink Floyd member to appear on every one of the band’s albums, was named a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to music. Nolan received a CBE for his contributions to film.
Many congratulations to Nick for being awarded a CBE in the British New Year’s Honours list, which has just been announced. Nick is receiving the award for services to music. pic.twitter.com/5C59sv0txc
— Nick Mason (@nickmasondrums) December 29, 2018
Other 2018 honorees actress Thandie Newton and The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood, as well as damehood for fashion model Twiggy and a knighthood for Monty Python member Michael Palin, the BBC reported.
“Discovering there were five other people who had the same sort of sense of humour as myself and we all appreciated each other’s work and that the work that we did, both on television and film, is still being replayed and still being appreciated, that’s quite something, really, after 50 years,” Palin said in a statement.
“It will be 50 years since Python started, next year. That’s something that hit a high spot that will last forever, so I’m very grateful to all the other Pythons and I am very proud of Python.”
In December 2017, Ringo Starr – who became a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire along with his Beatles band mates in 1965 – received knighthood and became a “Sir” as part of the New Year’s Honours.
Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, the drummer’s new live project that focuses on Pink Floyd’s pre-1973 music, will embark on their first American tour in 2019. Earlier this month, Mason spoke to Rolling Stone about the trek – which received the blessing of both Roger Waters and David Gilmour – and why it’s unlikely Pink Floyd’s surviving members will ever reunite.
“I think the problem is Roger doesn’t really respect David. He feels that writing is everything, and that guitar playing and the singing are something that, I won’t say anyone can do, but that everything should be judged on the writing rather than the playing,” Mason said.
“I actually get along with both of them, and I think it’s really disappointing that these rather elderly gentlemen are still at loggerheads.”