McCartney honoured at music event with Beatles-themed performances

London: Several music stars paid a tribute to Paul McCartney by performing songs from his 50 year long musical career at a ceremony on Friday night to honour the former Beatle.

Coldplay, Katy Perry, Alicia Keys, Neil Young, Foo Fighters and Tony Bennett all performed in front of the 69-year-old rocker as he received the MusiCares’ 2012 Person of the Year award ceremony. The star-studded event was hosted by the Grammy Awards organisers ahead of the major music awards. McCartney himself opened the ceremony with his own rendition of the Beatles hit ‘Magical Mystery Tour’. Katy Perry belted out a rendition of ‘Hey Jude’, while Neil Young played ‘I Saw Her Standing There’. Coldplay covered a version of ‘We Can Work it Out’ and Alicia Keys gave a soulful version of ‘Blackbird’ on piano. “For me, obviously it’s great to hear these fantastic artists singing my songs,” a leading daily has quoted McCartney as saying. He noted the different nuances each artist brought to his music and thanked everyone there. Actor-comedian Eddie Izzard hosted the event to honour McCartney for his creative accomplishments over decades in the industry and his charitable work off the rock-and-roll stage. The gala for MusiCares, which is supported by Grammy organisers at the Recording Academy, raised 6.5 million dollars to provide aid to musicians in need of help. ANI