Kate Bush has been made a fellow of The Ivors Academy for songwriters and composers.
The singer-songwriter, famed for songs including Hounds Of Love and Wuthering Heights, joins a roster that includes Annie Lennox, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John.
The 62-year-old also received a special award depicting Euterpe, the ancient Greek muse of lyric poetry.
This is the 20th fellowship the academy has awarded in its 76-year history.
She said: “I feel really honoured to be given this fellowship by The Ivors Academy. It means so very much to me.
“Thank you to all my family and friends and to everyone who has been there for me over the years.
“I’ll treasure this statue of Euterpe always and ask her to sit on my shoulder while I work.”
Bush found fame aged 19 after her song Wuthering Heights, inspired by Emily Bronte’s novel, reached number one in the UK singles chart in 1978.
She has been nominated six times for an Ivor Novello Award, winning her first in 1979 and her second in 2002.
Lennox, who was made a fellow in 2015, said: “I’m delighted beyond words that Kate Bush is being recognised and honoured with an Ivors Academy Fellowship.
“I cannot think of anyone more deserving than the uniquely innovative singer-songwriter, performer, producer and remarkable artist that she is.
“She is visionary and iconic and has made her own magical stamp upon the zeitgeist of the British cultural landscape.”
Sir Elton, who became a fellow in 2004, described Bush as “a truly inspirational, innovative British songwriter and artist. A legacy full of classic works”.
Bush remains an elusive presence and performed her first live show in 35 years in 2014, having not toured since 1979.
In 2019 she published a statement denying she was a supporter of the Conservative Party, after an interview in which she praised then-prime minister Theresa May.
The most recent musician to receive a fellowship was singer-songwriter and guitarist Joan Armatrading.
