Van likes days like this

Lenny Henry.

Acclaimed singer and songwriter Van Morrison is joining a select group of music giants with a knighthood to their name.

Belfast-born Morrison was honoured by the Queen for his services to music and tourism in Northern Ireland, the inspiration for many of his classics. The musician, known for hits such as Brown-Eyed Girl, will join fellow musical knights Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Mick Jagger. Morrison is among 1163 people noted in the Birthday Honours list for their achievements and services to the community.

Recipients in entertainment include Academy Award best actor winner Eddie Redmayne, named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Redmayne won a slew of awards for his portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch and Twelve Years A Slave actor Chiwetel Ejiofor were awarded a CBE, with Paddington Bear creator Michael Bond.

OBEs were also awarded tor ex-England footballer Frank Lampard and cricketer James Anderson.

Benedict Cumberbatch.

Kevin Spacey, who is finishing a 10-year run as artistic director at London's Old Vic theatre, was awarded an honorary knighthood for services to culture and British theatre. Spacey said he was "honoured and humbled" by the monarch's recognition and thanked Britons for supporting his work. "I feel like an adopted son," he said.

Former Welsh rugby captain Gareth Edwards was also knighted.

Other recipients included people from a wide range of professions, from sports players to historians, women's rights campaigners and health workers. They include Will Pooley, the first British person to contract the Ebola virus, who was honoured for his services in tackling the outbreak in Africa.

Almost three-quarters of the list are away from the public eye, honoured for communit work.

Recipients range in age from 17-year-old Natasha Lambert, from the Isle of Wight, who was born with athetoid cerebral palsy and is recognised for her charitable fundraising, to 103-year-old allergy research pioneer Dr William Frankland.