Wyclef Jean - Wyclef Stars Sos Haiti Telethon With Musical Tribute To His Homeland

WYCLEF JEAN opened Friday night's (05Feb10) SOS Save OurSelves - Help For Haiti benefit in Miami, Florida with a musical tribute to his homeland.

Performing in English and his native tongue, the former Fugees star shared the stage at the American Airlines Arena with fellow Haitians.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Queen Latifah and Pharrell Williams then took the stage to urge American hip-hop and R&B fans watching the show to give more to the people of Haiti, who are still recovering from a 7.0-magnitude earthquake which rocked the nation on 12 January (10).

Latifah said, "We are here tonight because our brothers and sisters in Haiti remain in trouble... The country is still in an emergency situation; they need our help."

Williams added, "We're in Miami tonight and that's less than 700 miles from Haiti, but, as you know, Haiti is a world away. Tonight we're here to close that gap, so the people of Haiti have food, medicine, a roof over their heads, clean water to drink and, most importantly, hope."

Diddy told the audience and viewers across America he felt "extremely proud" to be part of the event.

Damian Marley, Justin Bieber, Nas, Mary J. Blige, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and rapper Lil Wayne - in what will be his last public appearance before starting a year-long jail sentence - were also billed to take part in the two-hour fundraiser, which aired live on many U.S. TV networks.

The event was hastily organised to benefit charities including Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti foundation, as well as CARE, Project Medishare and Children's Safe Drinking Water.

George Clooney's recent Hope For Haiti Now telethon, held last month (Jan10) raised over $60 million (GBP37.5 million) for survivors of the earthquake.