UPDATED: Neil Young Honored at Canada's JUNO Awards

Neil Young
Allan Waters Humanitarian Award, Artist of the Year and Adult Alternative Album of the Year Award
2011 Juno awards at the Air Canada Centre, on Sunday in Toronto
BRETT GUNDLOCK / POSTMEDIA NEWS

From Winnipeg Free Press by Nick Patch:

Neil Young brought an Air Canada Centre crowd to its feet and then to tears as he accepted the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award at the Junos on Sunday with a touching speech about his family.

Young, who also won two Junos including artist of the year, received the award for his long history of philanthropic work.

Young co-founded the Farm Aid benefit concerts and the Bridge School, which educates children with severe speech and physical impairments. His two sons have cerebral palsy, while his daughter, Amber — who helped Young navigate the red carpet on a frigid spring Sunday — suffers from epilepsy, like Young himself.

'I gotta send a shout out to my son, Ben,' said Young, clad all in black but for a bright red scarf. 'It never could have happened without you, buddy. You're responsible for the whole thing. That's for you, Ben.

'And to my lovely wife, Pegi, she's the one who put it all together, makes me look good. She's the one with the ideas. And I'm the one with the reputation.'

Young then became more philosophic about the good deeds he's done.

'To try to do this humanitarian-y kind of thing, you need to look inside yourself,' said Young from under the brim of a black fedora.

'And the musicians, they should not worry about helping others, they should focus on their music first, because the music is the language of love and the language that we all feel together.

'So music makes it happen, and then if you're lucky and you have an opportunity, it's a good thing to do, to go ahead and try to do something yourself.'

'You just gotta look inside yourself and the eyes of your friends, and you'll find the secret of how to be a humanitarian. So, love to you.'

Backstage, Young — still reluctant to accept too much credit — delved into more detail on his work with the Bridge School.

'These kids are quite often brilliant, but they're just bottled up in these bodies that don't work like ours, and these heads that don't work like ours, but they still have so much to say and so much to think, so we just try to make it happen for them.'

Neil Young
Photo by Mark Blinch/Reuters

From Neil Young Adds Artist of the Year to His Humanitarian Honour at Juno Awards - Spinner Canada by Jenny Charlesworth:

To try to do this humanitarian-y type of thing you need to look inside yourself,' Young, who released his latest album, 'Le Noise,' this past September, told the Juno audience gathered at Toronto's Air Canada Centre. 'The music is the language of love; music makes it happen...'

'Look inside yourself and your friends, and you'll find the secret,' he added after thanking his son Ben ('never could have happened without you, buddy'), wife Peggy ('she's the one who makes me look good'), and other family members for inspiring him to co-found Farm Aid with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, as well as pursue numerous other humanitarian initiatives over the course of his illustrious career.

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UPDATE:
Neil Young

"I'm an adult. There's no alternative. That's me"

Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year
Toronto Saturday, March 26, 2011
Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

UPDATE: Neil Young kicks off Junos with win for adult alternative album of the year: Le Noise

From CTV News:

"There was really no reason why I didn't get on with it,' said Young, clad all in black except for a vivid red scarf. 'I'm not really an awards kind of guy that much. But it's great to get one. It's a great honour.

'I appreciate it. The older I get, the more appreciative I am."

When Lanois won his award later[Producer of the Year], he demanded that Young return to the stage. Young acquiesced, and told the audience about how the two recorded the album together in Silver Lake, Calif., in "this old Hollywood mansion full of Canadians."

"We collaborated our asses off, right?" said Young, who will receive an award for his philanthropy on Sunday. "That was a very Canadian experience with our Canadian engineer, Canadian cinematographer, Canadian Margaret was there, cooking Canadian food."

"This is a real producer here. ... I was lucky. I was blessed to work with Dan and we're going to do something in the future.

The future's a very big place for us."

From Toronto Sun By JANE STEVENSON:

Le Noise producer Daniel Lanois was asked to describe Neil Young’s talent backstage in the media room at the Junos on Sunday night.

“It’s a mysterious talent that he has,” said Lanois, who won best producer at the Junos on Saturday night during the non-televised gala dinner.

“Part of him is very childish and has a fascination with the fundamentals of this equipment we share, a love for the guitars and the amps and we have similar apparatus. And so that part of him is more like the kid who takes apart the family car and puts it back together. We have kind of a mechanical Canadian connection.

“And then the other part is absolutely indescribable. It’s about imagination - it’s not an easy place to understand. Everybody has a different set of rules that they play by and I think we safely say that Neil’s got a very broad imagination and so I appreciate that he thinks about things that I’ve never thought about and maybe that’s good about relationships. Not everybody should be the same person.”

Given how well the collaboration worked, why did it take them so long?

“He didn’t need me before,” said Lanois. “He was already making great records. I said to (Young’s manager) Elliot Roberts, if he wants to make a record that takes him to the unknown then he’s come to the right place.”

UPDATE: City of Toronto Proclamation: Neil Young Day

March 28, 2011

WHEREAS Neil Young is one of the most gifted, influential and celebrated singer-songwriters in rock and roll history. He is a prolific artist with a career spanning more than 40 years, five JUNO Awards, two Hall of Fame inductions and countless chart-topping singles and albums.

Young has been an outspoken advocate on many issues. He has promoted environmentalism and sustainability through his Farm Aid benefit concerts and his recent work with LincVolt in the development of an experimental electric car. Young also helped found The Bridge School, an educational organization for children with severe verbal and physical impairments.

For his charitable work, he was named the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year by The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and is the recipient of the 2011 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award, an award that recognizes an outstanding Canadian artist whose humanitarian contributions have positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada.

The impact of Neil Young's music as well as his philanthropy has touched millions of lives and spans generations. He is a proud Canadian and stands as an exemplary humanitarian whose dedication to deserving causes and to the music industry is a true inspiration.

NOW THEREFORE, I, Mayor Rob Ford, on behalf of Toronto City Council, do hereby proclaim March 28, 2011 as 'Neil Young Day'.

Mayor Rob Ford

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Tonight (Sunday, March 27), Neil Young will be honored with the 2011 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award at Canada's Juno Awards.

The award honors a Canadian artist whose humanitarian contributions have positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada and recognizes Young's compassionate legacy behind events such as Farm Aid, Live 8, and Bridge School Concerts.

As we have noted previously, rarely -- if ever -- has a single artist supported so many causes, for such a sustained period, raising considerable funds and awareness while reaching out to millions and millions around the world.

When reviewing a listing of benefit concerts that Neil Young has played over the years, one is struck by the sheer diversity of causes he has supported over his 45+ year career.

One could contend that no other artist has made such an impact on causes involving social justice.

More on Neil Young: Humanitarian Rebel With Causes.

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