Beatles drummer Ringo Starr will be knighted in the New Year’s Honours list.
The Liverpool-born musician becomes the second member of the Fab Four to be made a ‘Sir’ after Paul McCartney was recognised with the title in 1997.
Starr, real name Richard Starkey, was previously awarded an MBE in 1965 along with the other members of the Beatles at the height of their fame.
Band mate John Lennon posted back his honour just four years later as an act of protest at Britain’s military involvement and support for the Vietnam war.
Now 77, Starr is set to receive the knighthood in recognition of his services to music and charity.
He last visited Liverpool to perform at the opening ceremony of the city’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2008 but courted controversy in the weeks after.
During a television interview after the event, Starr claimed that he missed nothing about his hometown – comments he belatedly retracted in 2011.