07 July 2024
Reuben Bastienne-Lewis
Blur and Chaka Khan were among the stars honoured at this year’s O2 Silver Clef Awards at a ceremony held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, London.
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The awards raise funds for Nordoff and Robbins, the UK’s largest music therapy charity, which uses trained music therapists to help people living with autism, dementia, learning difficulties, brain injuries, life-limiting illnesses, mental health challenges, and grief and trauma.
Damon Albarn praised the “healing nature and magic of music” as Blur received the O2 Silver Clef award for outstanding achievement.
Albarn told attendees: “We’ve heard some really beautiful sentiments expressed about the healing power and the magic of music. I wonder, if you were in this room and you had no idea the language that’s been spoken, so you could only hear it in cadences and meters, what you would think? And I imagine you’d be a bit bewildered, but you’d still kind of get the impression that you were listening to music. So I think Nordoff and Robbins is… a force for good.” It kind of allows people who, maybe, have a difficult route into music to find that path through the dark forest. It’s a great honour to be here.”
Khan said after picking up her trophy – awarded “in recognition of her 50 years of international influence”: “Music has always been my solace, my strength, my voice, a gift.
“I’m grateful for this beautiful honour to be part of the Nordoff and Robbins creative community, where the power of music is used to transform, inspire, and bring love to the world. Music really does heal.”
Since 1976 the awards have raised more than £13.5 million for Nordoff and Robbins’ transformative music therapy services and honoured some of the greatest names in music.
Hosted with O2 for the last 23 years, the annual lunch is Nordoff and Robbins’ biggest fundraising event of the year thanks to table sales, sponsorship and live auctions on the day, featuring special items from the winning artists alongside money can’t buy experiences donated by the music industry.