Rock star Rod Stewart has been honoured by the Queen with a CBE in the New Year Honours list.
The veteran singer is joined in the list by Coronation Street stalwart Johnny Briggs, and actor and comedian Hugh Laurie.
Briggs is rewarded with an MBE after retiring from the soap earlier this year, having played dodgy businessman Mike Baldwin for three decades. Laurie, who has become a headline TV name in the United States, gets an OBE.
The list coincides with an announcement that recipients can in future wear a new emblem - in the form of a buttonhole badge - to show that they have been honoured.
Among those awarded a knighthood is George Shearing, the blind jazz pianist.
Rod Stewart has had 62 hit singles in the UK, including 24 that went into the Top 10 and six which went all the way to Number One. It is estimated that Stewart's album and single sales total more than 200 million, easily earning him a place on the list of best-selling singers of all time. His distinctive gritty voice has brought him huge success throughout the world.
Twice-married Stewart, who will be 62 on January 10, is still producing albums - and children. His current girlfriend Penny Lancaster gave birth to his seventh child in November last year.
There is a CBE for Penelope Keith, one of the most prominent and popular actresses of her generation. She has a daunting theatrical presence and is famous for her portrayal of upper-crust, aristocratic characters in TV series The Good Life and To The Manor Born.
Her early career included parts in such TV classics as The Army Game, Dixon Of Dock Green and The Avengers. She has also done much stage work including leading roles in The Norman Conquests and Blithe Spirit. Ms Keith has been president of the Actors' Benevolent Fund since 1990, taking over after the death of Lord Olivier. In 2002, she was High Sheriff of Surrey, being only the third woman to hold the post.
Hugh Laurie, the actor, comedian and writer, gets an OBE. He is best-known for his TV comedy work, especially with Stephen Fry, including A Bit Of Fry And Laurie, Blackadder and Jeeves And Wooster. Johnny Briggs, one of the longest-serving members of the Coronation Street cast, gets an MBE. He was in the soap from 1976 to 2006.
