Sir Elton John has called for more funding for Aids research and treatment after receiving the Légion d’honneur, reports The Isle of White County Press.
The singer spoke alongside French President Emmanuel Macron in front of thousands of people packed into the presidential Élysée Palace courtyard.
Sir Elton was clearly moved at receiving the Legion of Honour, pinned on him by Mr Macron in a private ceremony attended by the singer’s husband David Furnish and their two children.
The president saluted the virtuoso musician as “an icon that knew how to set an example”, the Élysée Palace said.
“To receive this decoration the day of the Fête de la Musique makes it even more special,” Sir Elton said later in the palace courtyard.
Mr Macron used the occasion to make a call to youth and world leaders to replenish the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria before an October summit in Lyon, France.
He said that 27 million people have been treated and saved through the Global Fund that raised about 13 billion euros in 2016.
Read more of this report from PA published by The Isle of White County Press.