Michael Eavis and daughter Emily
Glastonbury boss Michael Eavis is to be honoured with a Music Industry Trust Award.
The 78-year-old festival organiser is set to be recognised for his contribution to live music at the 23rd annual MITS at a fancy dinner for Nordoff Robbins and the BRIT Trust in London on November 3.
Michael said: "When I set out on this crazy hippy trip 44 years ago, little did I know how this roller coaster would run.
"But now I have to pinch myself every morning."
The idea for Michael to stage a festival came in 1970 when he managed to sneak into the Blues Festival at the Bath and West Showground to see Led Zeppelin.
He was so inspired he began booking bands to play on his own farm, Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, which had been owned by his family for a century.
Michael's first festival, Pilton Pop Blues and Folk Festival, took place in September 1970 and was headlined by Marc Bolan's Tyrannosaurus Rex. It later changed its named to Glastonbury Festival in 1981 and began its attachment with charitable causes.
David Munns OBE, chairman of the MITS Award committee, said: "We are delighted to honour Michael Eavis with the Music Industry Trusts Award for 2014. We honour him as the creator of the world renowned Glastonbury Festival, the largest greenfield festival in the world, attended by over 175,000 each year and raising millions of pounds for charities.
"Through his tireless dedication, Glastonbury has become an important landmark in the cultural life of this country, with its influence spreading well beyond these shores."
Previous winners of the gong include Scottish singer Annie Lennox who was honoured last year. The likes of Adele, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Elton John, Stephen Fry and Chrissie Hynde all paid tribute to the star.
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