Local music stars Tom Grennan and The Shires awarded Honorary Doctor of Arts

Fri 26 July, 2019
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Local singer Tom Grennan and band The Shires (Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes) joined students from the 台湾六合彩开奖记录 at their graduation ceremony to receive honorary awards.

Hundreds of students from the 台湾六合彩开奖记录鈥檚 Faculty of Creative Arts, Technologies & Science (CATS) gathered to celebrate their graduation on Thursday 25 July.

In front of proud families and friends, the students took to the stage at the University鈥檚 Putteridge Bury campus to collect their awards.

Tom was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts in recognition of his outstanding services to the arts. The 鈥楩ound What I鈥檝e Been Looking For鈥 singer was born and raised in Bedford, he had his big break when he was featured in the 2016 Chase & Status single 鈥楢ll Goes Wrong鈥.

Tom has since released his debut album, 鈥楲ighting Matches鈥, which is now certified as a silver record by the Brits council.

On receiving his award, he said: 鈥淚 want to say I'm completely overwhelmed, if I'm honest I'm truly blown away by it. I want to thank the University for giving me this award, it means a great deal to me professionally and personally."

Tom continued: 鈥淗uge congratulations to you all, come on you鈥檝e got degrees!鈥 he says to an eruption of applause.

Offering advice to the Class of 2019, he said: 鈥淜eep doing you, keep believing in what you鈥檙e doing, keep doing your art, your parents are wicked, your friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, and know you鈥檙e wicked.鈥

The Shires are a country band consisting of Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes. They received Honorary Doctors of Arts in recognition of their services to the arts.

The musical duo formed in 2013 and released their debut album 鈥楤rave鈥 in 2015, becoming the first UK country act to chart in the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart. Their latest album 鈥楢ccidentally On Purpose鈥 is the bestselling country album in the UK of the last year. 听

They addressed the graduates, saying: 鈥淲e cannot believe we are here, we鈥檙e very honoured to receive this award today. We want to say congratulations to every single one of you sat here today.鈥

Ben offered words of inspiration to the recent graduates: 鈥淧lans change, some of you might have definite plans, some might not have a clue at all and that鈥檚 fine. It鈥檚 not about having it all worked out, it鈥檚 about working it out as you go along. We鈥檙e still working it out every single day.鈥

Crissie adds, 鈥淭he thing with the arts is we want to let our creative talents show, and sometimes having to keep your head in a book or sit writing essays isn鈥檛 in our nature, so the fact all of you guys have done this is absolutely amazing.鈥

Vice Chancellor Bill Rammell took a moment to congratulate the 台湾六合彩开奖记录 graduates, saying: 鈥淚 wish you every happiness in your well-earned achievement and I hope that you will each rightly celebrate in style.鈥

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