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French honour for 60s singer Donovan

Thursday, 22 January 2009

French honour for 60s singer Donovan

British singer-songwriter Donovan, who made his name in the “flower-power era” of the 1960s, has been awarded a top French honour by the government of France.

62-year-old Donovan, whose past hits included Mellow Yellow, Colours and Sunshine Superman, has been made an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters.

French culture minister Christine Albanel presented the medal to the singer and it was pinned to his velvet jacket at the awards ceremony that was held in Cannes.

Donovan was delighted with the honour and dedicated it to his father because he inspired the songwriter’s creativity by reading poems to him when he was a boy.

Donovan had seven British top 10 hits between 1965 and 1968 and was friends with The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.

With his harmonica and acoustic guitar he was hailed by some as the “British Bob Dylan” but his song-writing content and style was always very different to the American protest singer.

Donovan is currently due to release a DVD of his greatest hits and he has also been working with film director David Lynch on a campaign to get meditation used in highschools.

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