Vintage T-shirt news: Status Quo rockers receive OBEs

31/12/2009

Hard-rocking duo Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi have been made OBEs in the New Year Honours list.

The men behind Status Quo received the honour for services to music and charity, while Formula One champion Jenson Button was appointed an MBE and the British Lions head coach Ian McGeechan received a knighthood.

Parfitt, 61, said that he had "given up hoping" for an honour, despite the band's work with charities such as the Prince's Trust and the Heart Foundation.

"To be perfectly honest, with all the hard work we have put in over the years, I accept it graciously," he commented.

Status Quo had their first hit with Pictures of Matchstick Men, which reached number seven in 1968.

The band went on to enjoy more chart success and inspire many vintage T-shirts with popular songs such as Down Down, Caroline and Rockin' All Over the World.

Earlier this month, the Performing Rights Society named Status Quo as the hardest working band in the UK music industry, revealing that they performed to 250,000 people at 27 arenas in 2009.