Elaine Paige ‘in complete disbelief’ as West End icon becomes Dame in 2025 King’s Birthday Honours

Veteran musical-theatre star Elaine Paige has been elevated to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours, capping a 60-year career that reshaped the modern West End. The 77-year-old performer, born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff in Barnet, north London, said the news left her “in complete disbelief,” calling the accolade “the ultimate privilege” for her life’s work in music and charity.

From ‘Evita’ to Radio 2 mainstay

Paige shot to overnight fame in 1978 as Eva Perón in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, winning the Olivier Award for Performance of the Year. She went on to originate Grizabella in Cats, introducing the power-ballad “Memory” and Florence in Chess, later topping the UK singles chart with “I Know Him So Well” alongside Barbara Dickson. Across six decades she has released more than 20 solo albums and headlined landmark revivals including Sunset Boulevard and Piaf.

Since 2004 she has hosted the Sunday-lunchtime programme Elaine Paige On Sunday on BBC Radio 2, sharing show-tune favourites with a loyal national audience. Radio 2 head Helen Thomas hailed her new title, noting “there’s nothing like a dame, and now she has the official rank to match.”

Long-standing charitable work

Beyond the stage and studio, Paige serves as patron or president of multiple charities, among them The Children’s Trust, the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust, and the Royal Voluntary Service. Her benefit concerts, including the 2014 I’m Still Here gala at the Royal Albert Hall, have raised significant funds and awareness for these causes. The honour specifically recognises “services to music and to charity,” underscoring that dual legacy.

A milestone in a star-studded list

Paige was first honoured with an OBE in 1995; her promotion to Damehood now makes her the first female performer to progress from an Olivier Award for a single role to a DBE for lifetime service to musical theatre. This year’s Honours list also celebrates cultural luminaries Gary Oldman, Roger Daltrey, and novelist Pat Barker.

Reflecting on her journey from drama-school hopeful to “the first lady of British musical theatre,” Paige said the recognition “raises goose-bumps and gratitude in equal measure.” Even as she steps back from eight-shows-a-week schedules, the newly minted Dame hinted at a forthcoming studio album proof that her storied career still has fresh chapters to write.

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