Beverley Knight honoured with lifetime achievement award at MBCC Awards

West Midlands soulstress Beverley Knight has been honoured with prestigious lifetime achievement accolade at the Midlands Community and Business Awards in Birmingham.

Local stars and community members came together to celebrate local personalities and role models in a glitzy award ceremony held at Aston Villa Football Club.

The ‘Queen of British Soul’ Beverley Knight was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Honorary Award at the MBCC 2019. The critically acclaimed singer has sold over 1 million albums in the UK and has a career spanning over 25 years in the industry.

The event, which attracted more than 550 guests on Saturday night, is now in its fourth year. Knight joins only three other people that have received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, including Sir Lenny Henry who was honoured in 2018.

The glitzy ceremony was hosted by acclaimed TV and weather presenter Alex Beresford of Good Morning Britain alongside former ‘Loose Women’ and BBC radio and Midlands Today presenter Trish Adudu.

Lifetime Achievement Award

The annual celebratory event is aimed at showcasing people in business and grassroots community members. It celebrates and highlights the work of people who go that extra mile to make their communities better places.  The event is one of few to celebrate unsung heroes in the Midlands.

When receiving the award Beverley Knight said:

“I had to take a big old machete to cut a path through the music industry. However, if cutting that path means that someone like these kids from BOA, APAA and Liam Price can sprint down that path, then every second of pain and every hurdle I have had to overcome was worth it.

“It’s been a wonderful, beautiful, edifying, illuminating night for me so thank you, all of you for making this truly one of the greatest days of my life!”

The Wolverhampton born star surprised attendees with an amazing impromptu performance of Chaka Khan’s hit singles, “Ain’t Nobody” and “I’m Every Woman“, backed by the Aston Performing Arts Academy.

Record number of nominations

MBCC Event Director, Tru Powell said: “I am really pleased we were able honour Beverley Knight and Jamelia with such a prestigious awards. Beverley is such an amazing talent and the fact she is celebrating 25 years in the industry this year is a testament to her longevity.

This year we have received a record number of nominations and delighted we were able to recognise some of the regions unsung heroes.”

Seventeen awards were handed out on the night, including the Inspirational Honorary Award, which was presented to singer and presenter Jamelia. The ‘Superstar’ singer attended the award with her two daughters, whom she dedicated the award to.

Local criminologist and Urban Youth Specialist Craig Pinkney also collected an award for ‘Most Inspirational Person of the Year’ which he described as a testament to all the hard work he had done nationally and internationally in communities with young people and families effected by violence.

A full list of the award ceremony finalists can be found on the MBCC website.