Good news for show business, from Sir Jimmy Young to the CBE Gees

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One of Britain's most enduring pop groups and three of the most respected stage and film actors are among the showbusiness stars to be honoured.

The Bee Gees, whose hits span five decades and are currently in the album charts, are each made a CBE. They may be best remembered for their Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in the Seventies; but to an earlier generation, the Gibb brothers brought a steady supply of mainstream pop in the Sixties with such hits as "Words" and "To Love Somebody".

The brothers were brought up in Australia after their parents emigrated from Manchester, having been warned by police that the boys were indulging in petty crime. When Barry, Maurice and Robin returned to England, they were signed by the impresario Robert Stigwood.

Ben Kingsley, a regular with the Royal Shakespeare Company before achieving international fame in the film Gandhi, joins the select band of British actor knights. He was born Krishna Bhanji in Yorkshire, but his father told him that if he wanted an acting career he had better get an English name.

Dennis Quilley, who first appeared at the Birmingham Rep in 1945 before becoming a regular at the National Theatre, and whose television and film career stretches back to 1965, is appointed OBE.

Overdue recognition has been given to another performer whose career blossomed at the National Theatre in the Sixties, Lynn Redgrave. Her movies range from Georgy Girl in 1966 to Gods and Monsters in 1999, for which she won a Golden Globe. Her stage appearances include her own one-woman show, Shakespeare For My Father, detailing her relationship with her siblings, Vanessa and Corin.

Alan Parker, the film director and chairman of the Film Council, receives a knighthood. His successes as a director include Midnight Express, The Commitments and Evita.

The veteran BBC Radio 2 broadcaster Jimmy Young receives a knighthood.

Miriam Margolyes, 60, who has excelled in eccentric comedy roles, is created OBE. Lesley Garrett, the down-to-earth opera diva from Yorkshire, is made a CBE.

The singer and actress Barbara Dickson, who starred in the 1999 musical Spend, Spend, Spend, is appointed OBE, as is Roy Clarke, creator of Last of the Summer Wine, the longest-running comedy series in British television.

And in a year in which she was one of Britain's highest-earning women, with £4m in the bank, the singer Sade is created OBE. Sade, whose full name is Helen Folasade Adu, was born in Nigeria.