Melba was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in recognition of her charitable war work and artistic achievements.
On 1 June 1918, Nellie Melba was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), one of the highest honours available to a British subject at the time, in recognition of both her extraordinary contribution to the arts and her tireless charitable fundraising during the First World War.
During the war, Melba had given numerous benefit concerts across Britain, the United States, and Australia, raising substantial sums for the Red Cross and other war relief efforts. Her honour reflected the significant public service role that celebrated performers could play in wartime, using their fame and voice for humanitarian causes.
Being created a Dame was a landmark moment not only for Melba personally but for the recognition of women, and particularly women from the arts and from the British colonies/dominions, within the official honours system. It affirmed her status as 'Dame Nellie Melba', the title by which she remains best known today, and by which she is honoured in Australian cultural memory, including on the Australian $100 note issued decades after her death.