Neil Young Adds Artist of the Year to His Humanitarian Honour at Juno Awards

Neil Young knew enough to prepare an acceptance speech for his Allan Waters Humanitarian award at Canada's Juno Awards tonight [March 27] in Toronto, but it seems that one laundry list of thank-yous wasn't enough. The Canadian folk crooner walked away with Artist of the Year, too.

"And what year is this? Oh man, I'm totally surprised," exclaimed Young while accepting the honour, which comes on the heels of his Adult Alternative Album award, handed out at Saturday night's Juno gala dinner ceremony.

"Justin Bieber -- what can you say?" he said of the once mop-topped pop star he was up against in the category. "Totally incomprehensible."

Though Young could have stretched it out, he clearly thought it best to let the moving words he expressed during his Allan Waters acceptance speech take the focus for the evening.

"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.

In a press conference following his Artist of the Year win, Young shed light on his approach to acceptance speeches for the evening.

"It's very unusual for me to be this exposed," he said. "I don't know what to say; it's good to be here, I'm just trying to be myself and avoid a teleprompter as much as possible."

The icon also spoke about beating out golden boy Biebs.

"I'm in the same category? I'm not in the same time zone; it's kind of a warp. I was 16 one time, in a band called the Squires.

"He's fantastic, he's got some moves."



MORE JUNO COVERAGE ON SPINNER
Our JUNO Wrap Up | Arcade Fire Sweep the Junos | Metric & F---ed Up Bury Beef at Junos | Electronic Music Finally Grooves It's Way to Junos | All Things JUNO