Glastonbury Founder Michael Eavis Honoured: '44 Years of Semi-Controlled Chaos' Led to Award

Stars of the music world have paid tribute to Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis after he was honoured for his outstanding contribution to live music.

Coldplay, Damon Albarn and Sir Paul McCartney were those who among those who thanked the 79-year-old for organising the festival for the past 44 years.

Eavis, who now runs the world famous music event with the help of his daughter Emily, was honoured with the annual Music Industry Trusts Award at a ceremony in aid of the Nordoff Robbins music therapy charity and the Brit Trust.

Eavis told the crowd at London's Grosvenor House Hotel: "After crawling through a hole in the hedge to take a peep at Freddie Bannister's Bath Blues Festival in 1970, I can't believe that 44 years of semi-controlled chaos has led to me receiving this prestigious award. Thank you all so much."

Lily Allen was one of the musical acts who have performed at Glastonbury to pay tribute to Eavis, adding the festival is "literally better than Christmas".

She said: "I get that same feeling in my gut that I did on Christmas Eve as a kid, but for the whole week leading up to that last weekend in June. I love you, you have made the world a bearable place."

Albarn, who has headlined the festival as part of Blur and the Gorillaz, added: "I'd like to thank you for your husbandry of the musical health of the British Isles and far further afield."

Coldplay also sent a message to Eavis which said: "Thank you for the incredible experiences you've given us and so many others."

Tickets for next year's events sold out in record time yet again, with the 150,000 tickets going in just 26 minutes.