David Beckham, Greta Thunberg among winners at GQ awards in London

LONDON: Former England soccer captain David Beckham, veteran U.S. singer and song-writer Iggy Pop and teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg were among the figures honored on Tuesday at the annual GQ Men of the Year Awards.

Beckham, who retired from professional soccer in 2013, received the Editor’s Special Award for his services to the sport over a career of more than two decades that included playing for clubs such as Manchester United and Real Madrid as well as the England national team.

Asked by British GQ magazine in an interview to be published in its October edition what advice he had for his children, Beckham said: “To work hard, simple as that.”

Among others recognized at the GQ ceremony in London, U.S.-Australian actress Nicole Kidman won the Actress Award, Welsh actor Taron Egerton the Actor Award and Australian singer and actress Kylie Minogue, who performed at the ceremony, won the magazine’s Icon Award.

Iggy Pop, now 72, received GQ’s Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring a six-decade career marked by outrageous stage antics and an exploration of diverse musical genres from hard rock and punk rock to blues and jazz.

The England women’s soccer team won the Inspiration Award after achieving record-breaking television audiences for England in this year’s World Cup.

The 16-year-old Thunberg, who started missing school on Fridays a year ago to protest outside the Swedish parliament, sparking a global climate strike movement known as Fridays for Future, won GQ’s Game Changer Award.

Tuesday’s ceremony, hosted by Welsh actor Michael Sheen, was GQ’s 22nd such event, and was held in association with luxury lifestyle group HUGO BOSS. It drew a host of celebrities, including model Naomi Campbell and veteran singer Tom Jones.