INTERNATIONAL singer-songwriter Donovan and his wife, Linda Lawrence, are to be presented with Honorary Corkperson awards at the annual Cork Person of the Year awards next month.

The couple has lived in North Cork for some time and the award serves to mark their long-standing presence in the county.

Donovan Leitch rose to prominence on the international music scene in the mid-60s from his home in Scotland and became known for his hit songs such as Catch The Wind, Sunshine Superman, Mellow Yellow, Universal Soldier, Colours, and Hurdy Gurdy Man.

In 2012 and 2014, Donovan was inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, respectively.

He has received numerous other awards over the years, including The Ivor Novello Award for Songwriting for his first song Catch The Wind, and Broadcast Music Inc.’s, Icon Award, for his “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers”.

The singer-songwriter is also credited with writing some of the first songs concerning climate change and a need for climate action. He and his wife, Linda, recently released an album entitled Eco-Song, which features 21 songs about climate change, and is dedicated to the young climate activist, Greta Thunberg.

Linda Lawrence, a collage artist, works closely with her husband on his continuing music career, while also being active in fighting climate change.

She has also created an animated children’s television series with an ecological theme for pre-teen, 8-12 year olds entitled Tales Of Aluna.

Commenting on the recognition for the couple, awards founder and organiser of the Cork awards Manus O’Callaghan, said: “We are delighted that Donovan and Linda will join our Honorary Corkpersons Roll of Honour recipients - David and Patsy Puttnam (2012), Jeremy Irons (2013), Michael Flatley (2014), Joe Schmidt (2019) and John Bowman (2020)”.

Donovan and Linda will receive engraved Cork Crystal and ‘Republic of Cork passports’ from the city and county mayors on stage during the Person of the Year lunch at the Rochestown Park Hotel in March.