Charity honour for rocker Young

Written on August 12th, 2009 by

Singer-songwriter Neil Young is to be honoured by the US Recording Academy, the body which awards the Grammys.

Young, 63, will receive the MusiCares person of the year award award for his "influential artistic accomplishments and philanthropic work".

He will be honoured at a dinner and concert in Los Angeles on 29 January, two days before the Grammy ceremony.

Young, whose hits include Heart of Gold, will be the 20th person to receive the award.

Previous recipients include Aretha Franklin, Neil Diamond and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

Recording Academy president Neil Portnow, said: "Neil has set a standard of artistic integrity and iconoclastic creativity for more than four decades, and his achievements have been matched by his unwavering humanitarianism.

"He is a shining example of how music people offer their creative gifts to the world, and how they also give back through their commitments to charitable endeavours."

MusiCares was established by the US Recording Academy in 1989 to provide assistance to musicians in times of financial, medical or personal emergency.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.