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(AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Van The Man
His mother told him there'd be days like this: Freedom of Belfast for Van
The 68-year-old, who was born in the east of the city, is likely to receive the accolade next year.
7.56pm, 22 Aug 2013
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VAN MORRISON is to be granted the Freedom of Belfast.
The 67-year-old singer-songwriter, who is from Hynford Street, Bloomfield in the east of the city, is likely to receive the accolade next year.
Belfast City Council is expected to agree to the honour, the highest it can bestow, at a meeting next month.
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The shipyard electrician’s son has sold millions of albums worldwide, his live performances have been described as ‘transcendental’ and his album Astral Weeks regularly features in lists of the best albums of all time.
Drawing inspiration from his home city, some of his best-known songs include the hit ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ released in 1967, ‘Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile)’, ‘Domino’ and ‘Wild Night’.
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I bet when she was 16 she thought people in their thirties were old…. Now those in their eighties would probably be young ones. She obviously has a great enthusiasm for life. Fair play to her, I hope she breaks the record.
@Damien Barton: You prob do not know the amount of the state pension in Japan is about €450 a month, less than a half compared to what Irish pensioners receive.
Jeanne Louise Calment was being interviewed on her 121st birthday and was asked about her still drinking wine and smoking she replied “When I was 114 the doctor tells me “Jeanne Louise you must give up smoking and drinking” I told him “I’m to old to be that f***ing miserable”"
@Jaycee Laycee: maybe science will continue to maximise human longevity, but global warming will lead to more sudden deaths through severe weather events. I don’t think climate change is contributing to increasing lifespans, do you?
@Jaycee Laycee: funny that, because in the US, one of the highest per capita sources of greenhouse emissions, life expectancy has started to fall. As was mentioned by another commenter, the two statistics are entirely unrelated.
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