Acceptance Speech by Neil Young at Canada's JUNO Awards

Last month, Neil Young was honored with the 2011 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award at Canada's Juno Awards.

Here is Neil's touching acceptance speech, including the introduction by Producer Daniel Lanois and the career highlights film.

This is ESSENTIAL viewing. Thanks Glenn G.!

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.

Neil Young
Photo by Mark Blinch/Reuters
In his acceptance speech, Neil Young said:

'I gotta send a shout out to my son, Ben.' '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.'

'To try to do this humanitarian-y kind of thing, you need to look inside yourself.'

'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.'

Neil Young
Photo by Graham Kennedy

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