Beverley Knight speaks about being bold as she receives university honour
A Black Country music legend has told graduates of a city university to be bold and take the path less travelled.
Beverley Knight was speaking at Symphony Hall in Birmingham after receiving an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University (BCU) at an awards ceremony.
She received the honour from BCU Chancellor Sir Lenny Henry, who offered his own praise for the Wolverhampton-born singer, songwriter and actress, who was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2006 for services to British music and charity.
Sir Lenny said: “Beverley is the Queen of British soul and a true icon for the West Midlands, well and truly flying the flag for Wolverhampton.
“She’s an accomplished songwriter and a dynamite live performer.
"She's been behind some of the most powerful music to come out of the UK in recent times and if that wasn’t enough, she’s also made a huge impact in her charity roles.”
Best known for the songs ‘Greatest Day’, ‘Get Up!’, ‘Shoulda Woulda Coulda’ and ‘Come As You Are’, Knight has won three MOBO Awards, received three nominations for Best Female at the Brit Awards, and has also been nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize.
She has sung with Prince, Take That, Chaka Khan and Jamiroquai, to name but a few, and has scored several Top 10 albums, with more than a million sales in the UK.
Knight, who lists Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin among her early influences, said: “I am thrilled to be conferred with an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University.
“I have always spoken of my pride at being part of the community of fantastic musicians hailing from the Black Country and Birmingham, as beautifully demonstrated at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“I hope my career can inspire the young minds who share the graduation day with me.”
In her acceptance speech, she praised BCU graduates for their “resilience and perseverance” and urged them to “be bold”.
She said: “Don’t be scared to take the path which is less travelled because down that path is going to be something more amazing than you could have ever predicted.”
In recent years, Knight has also forged a formidable career in theatre, receiving, in April, an Olivier Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her much-praised portrayal of Emmeline Pankhurst in Sylvia at the Old Vic.
She also received Olivier Award nominations for her roles as Faye Treadwell in the critically acclaimed The Drifter’s Girl and as Felicia Farrell in the Tony-winning hit show Memphis The Musical.
Her first new studio album in seven years, ‘The Fifth Chapter’, will be released in September, followed by her biggest-ever tour of the UK in the autumn.
