Manics bassist handed uni honour

Nicky Wire was presented with the diploma on Thursday night

Manic Street Preachers bass player Nicky Wire has been presented with an honorary fellowship during a concert at Swansea University.

Wire graduated from the university with a politics degree in 1990, but missed his graduation ceremony.

He said Thursday's presentation, held at Brangwyn Hall, was "a great way to start a gig".

Vice-Chancellor Richard Davies said Wire had made "an excellent contribution to the world of music".

After the concert, Wire, from Blackwood, south Wales, said he had failed to collect his degree when he was a student, and told how the university had been trying to award it to him "for years".

"I should have got my degree in this place but I didn't bother turning up for it. I think we were supporting The Levellers or something," he told BBC 6 Music.

Nicky Wire wore his gown during the gig

"This more than makes up for it."

Wire wore his university gown on stage during the concert, which is part of the band's latest UK tour.

Vice-Chancellor Davies said: "To present such a creative and individualistic graduate of Swansea with an honorary fellowship is a genuine pleasure."

"Nicky has made an exceptional contribution to the world of music.

"The lyrics he writes for the band display a keen awareness of political history that has firm roots in Welsh radicalism."

Wire, whose real name is Nicholas Jones, was one of the founder members of the Manic Street Preachers in 1988, along with fellow Swansea student Richey Edwards.

The pair had met friends James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore during their days at Oakdale Comprehensive School.

Wire also told BBC 6 Music that the Manics had played their first show as a four-piece in Swansea at Mandela Hall alongside Edwards, who went missing 10 years ago.

He also revealed that the band were being followed by an American documentary crew.