Among those honoured for work with music in the 2026 Birthday Honours List are pianist Dave Cottle (BEM for services to jazz), Tony Iommi, guitarist with Black Sabbath (MBE), rock singer Cerys Matthews MBE (OBE) and Steel Pulse singer and professor of black British music Mykaell Riley (MBE).

The Ellington and Monk inspired South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim, noted for his anti-Apartheid activity and SA-influenced solo piano performances, died 15 June in Germany, aged 91. First known as Dollar Brand, he converted to Islam in 1968, when he adopted his Muslim name.

Saxophonist Sonny Rollins, noted for his robust hard-bop style, died 25 May at his Woodstock, NY home, aged 95. His website noted his 2009 comment that “I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence. I’m a person who believes this life isn’t the be-all and end-all of everything. A spiritual person doesn’t feel like that.”