'Time of His Life'

23 Feb 2003
From a Ugandan Childrens singing group to a former US President, the stars turned out in New York this weekend to honour Bono as 2003 MusiCares Person Of The Year.

As well as the dinner and speeches, a diverse group of artists took the stage to interpret U2 classics including B.B. King and Wynonna Judd covering When Love Came To Town; No Doubt ­ with Sly & Robbie on rhythm ­ covering The Sweetest Thing; Norah Jones' taking on Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of and Elvis Costello covering Kite.

Catch a great video clip of some of those cover versions here.

Costello revealed that he'd seen seven shows on the Elevation tour and "All they sing about is love". At which point Edge arrived on stage with the evenings main attraction and they performed Sinatra's 'That's Life' and Cole Porter's 'Night And Day' before ending with the Oscar-nominated 'The Hands That Built America.'

Among the stars present to honour Bono were Michael Stipe, Jay-Z, Limp Bizkit, Diana Krall, Jimmy Fallon, Salman Rushdie, Tony Bennett, Eunice Shriver and Bobby Shriver, Carly Simon, Robert DeNiro, Steve Van Zandt and David Bowie.

Earlier former President Clinton presented Bono, whom he has known since 1992, with the Person of the Year award which honours the musical accomplishments and humanitarian efforts of a single figure each year. Bono, who announced that he was having 'the time of my life', declared that Bill Clinton was 'more of a rock star than any in this room'.

On a serious note, Clinton tuned in to a prevailing anti war theme on the night: 'If you immediately think it's us versus them, then this will not be a world for your children to grow up in.' he said.

Bono cautioned against making Saddam Hussein a martyr, and spoke of resolutions reached with the IRA and debt relief granted to developing nations as the kind of success constructive dialog can bring. The world is much more malleable than you think,' he said.

The night was MCed by actress Ashley Judd, who along with Bono and multiple-Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, recently travelled through the Midwest on the Heart of America tour, to raise awareness of AIDs, poverty and trade issues in Africa. The Children of Uganda, a group of young performers from various parts of East Africa whose mission is to raise awareness of AIDS through their music and dance, opened the night's festivities with a rousing rhythmic display. Members of the ensemble were raised in orphanages, children of one or both parents who died of AIDS.

The complete list of artists who played - and the songs they covered - was:

BB King and Wynonna Judd - When Love Comes to Town
No Doubt - Sweetest Thing
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Stories For Boys
Mary J. Blige - One
Norah Jones - Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Patti Labelle - Angel of Harlem
And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Electric Co.
Garbage - Pride
Sheryl Crow - All I Want Is You
Elvis Costello - Kite

More reports here grammy.aol.com

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