Stars Shine At Mtv Telethon

Alicia Keys, Rob Thomas, Beck, Kanye West and Sheryl Crow were among the stars who made emotional studio performances for an MTV Hurricane Katrina telethon last night (10SEP05), while other big names offered special tour tunes from across North America.

Green Day taped a performance in Foxboro, Massachusetts, the Rolling Stones paid tribute to the hurricane victims from the stage in Milwaukee, Coldplay phoned in their performance from New York and Pearl Jam played GIVEN TO FLY on tour in Saskatoon, Canada.

During the slick four-and-a-half hour live show, U2, SIR Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney also beamed in performances from tour stops in Toronto, Canada (U2 and Elton), and Miami, Florida, respectively.

But it was the show's collaborations from studios set up in New York, Nashville, Tennessee and Los Angeles, which made the sombre evening a special one.

Kid Rock performed a stirring Sweet Home Alabama with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Linkin Park's Chester Bennington hooked up with Motley Crue for a rendition of the latter's HOME SWEET HOME and Neil Young and Emmylou Harris ended the telethon with a powerful version on WALKING TO NEW ORLEANS.

Other highlights included Red Hot Chili Peppers' performance of Under The Bridge, Beck's cover of EVERYBODY'S GOTTA LEARN SOMETIMES and a tune from AMERICAN IDOL star Kelly Clarkson, who fought health problems to perform SHELTER in Los Angeles.

The commercial-free telethon, which also featured messages from stars like Jennifer Lopez, Usher, Shakira and Dennis Quaid, was one of three held in America this weekend (09-10SEP05) to raise funds for the victims of the hurricane.