Leonard Cohen has been awarded a prize dubbed the Spanish Nobel Prize.
The legendary singer - songwriter is this year's recipient of the Prince of Asturias Award for Letters. The prize, which will be given out at special ceremony in autumn, is worth £44,000.
The judges described Mr Cohen, 77, as a "poet and novelist" and said they were honouring him "for a body of literary work that has influenced three generations of people worldwide".
They praised his "creation of emotional imagery" and added: "The passing of time, sentimental relationships, the mystical traditions of the East and the West and life sung as an unending ballad make up a body of work associated with certain moments of decisive change at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century."
