No objection to pop stars who get knighthoods, but they are chosen to curry favour with the electorate. If merit alone was the criterion, the list would be quite different. Consider, for example, John Mayall. He mentored a whole host of blues-rock musicians such as Clapton, Peter Green, Adrian Dunbar, Jimmy Page, etc etc. The bluesbreakers have been going since the year dot. Mayall is a hero in the US, where he made numerous albums for Chess records. But of course, he was not big in the imagination of the masses, so just got a measly MBE. Brought up a stones throw from Maine Road, btw.