Neil Diamond will be the honoree at the music industry’s annual MusiCares fundraiser, which will take place in Los Angeles on February 6, two days before the Grammy Awards, organizers said.The 67-year-old singer has been designated as the charity’s person of the year in honor of his philanthropic work. MusiCares, the charitable arm of the group that organizes the Grammys, helps musicians with health and financial problems.

Previous honorees have included Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, Elton John and Brian Wilson.

Diamond is currently on tour to promote his second Rick Rubin-produced album “Home Before Dark,” which debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. pop chart in May. The feat made Diamond the oldest living artist to reach the top of the chart.

John Legend, Lil Mama, Corinne Bailey Rae and gospel singer Shirley Caesar paid their “Respect” to Aretha Franklin in a musical tribute to the Queen of Soul.

They joined Fantasia, BeBe and CeCe Winans, Patti Austin, Herbie Hancock and Roy Hargrove in launching Grammy weekend by honoring the 65-year-old R&B diva as MusiCares Person of the Year.

Surrounded by music industry titans Clive Davis, Quincy Jones and Berry Gordy, Franklin listened Friday night to interpretations of some of the biggest hits of her lengthy career.

Austin scatted on “I Say a Little Prayer,” turning it into an extended jam with a piano solo by Hancock and Hargrove on trumpet, while Franklin nodded her head in time to the music. When the crowd was slow to sing and clap along, Austin joked: “We got too many white people in here.”

Lil Mama did a rap version of Franklin’s feminist anthem “Respect.” British singer Rae accompanied herself on guitar to “Angel,” a 1973 hit written by Franklin’s sister Carolyn. Fantasia, sporting a startling patch of white in her black hair, sang “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” and Ledisi performed “Rock Steady.”

Carmen Carter teamed with saxophonist Dave Koz for “Think,” the song Franklin performed in “The Blues Brothers” movie. Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi danced along dressed as the movie’s title characters.

Legend played piano and sang “Day Dreaming” before Caesar turned the hall into a revival meeting. Backed by a choir, she growled and prowled the stage during a gospel medley that earned a standing ovation.

“Thank you for your wonderful gift. God spared your life to continue to sing and bring joy,” Caesar told Franklin.

Before launching into a brief standup routine, Bill Cosby told the crowd they were honoring “the real deal. This is not fakery, this is not somebody who almost made it. This is somebody who invented it.”

“Aretha Franklin is responsible for more female singers working someplace else because they tried to copy her,” he said.

The Rev. Al Sharpton brought Franklin to tears with his benediction. “I knew I would need two or three handkerchiefs in my purse and he got me right off the top,” she said.

Franklin was the night’s final performer, taking the stage to a standing ovation.

“It took us about six days to get out here from Detroit,” she said, referring to her famous fear of flying. “I’ll be flying next week. If I ever wanted to fly again, I do now. I know how the people in covered wagons felt.”

Franklin launched into a medley, highlighted by “Chain of Fools.” She sat down at the piano to play and sing “A Woman Falling Out of Love,” from her upcoming CD.

After being driven into the Los Angeles Convention Center hall on a golf cart, Franklin shed a long, white fur coat to reveal a strapless black gown splashed with sequins and a mermaid-like taffeta trim. A black turban topped her head.

“This gown is so tight,” she said. “It took me about 20 minutes to get in the car. I’m not kidding. I tried to get in the car 40 different ways.”

Also in the audience were Ne-Yo, Josh Groban, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, actors Blair Underwood and John Stamos and producer Jimmy Jam.

Franklin is up for her 18th Grammy on Sunday, nominated for gospel performance for a duet with Mary J. Blige. The show will air live from Staples Center.

She was honored Friday for her achievements as a musician and for her philanthropic work with children’s organizations and churches and food banks in the Detroit area.

The dinner and auction raised more than $4.5 million for MusiCares, the highest grossing evening in the tribute’s 15-year history, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said.

MusiCares, run by the Recording Academy, provides financial assistance to individuals in the music industry during times of need.

Amy Winehouse will not be performing at this year’s Grammy Awards because her request for a visa has been turned down by the U.S. Embassy, her publicist said Thursday.

“Amy has been progressing well since entering a rehabilitation clinic two weeks ago and although disappointed with the decision has accepted the ruling and will be concentrating on her recovery,” The Outside Organization, which counts the troubled retro-soul sensation among its clients, said in a statement.

Winehouse shot to fame with the autobiographical single “Rehab.”

The 24-year-old singer and her acclaimed “Back to Black” album are nominated in six categories for at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Her potent blend of blues, jazz, pop and soul has won praise from critics and fans, but Winehouse has become as famous for her chaotic personal life as for her music.

Since the album’s U.S. release last year, she has canceled a slew of appearances amid reports of drug use.

Her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, is in jail awaiting trial on charges of assault and lying to police.

The pen may be mightier than awards.

After taking the luster off the Golden Globes, striking writers now have their sights set on the Grammys.

On Tuesday afternoon, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences announced it had asked for a pass from the Writers Guild of America to stage the music biz’s biggest night.

The WGA confirmed that it has received a request from show producer John Cossette and the Recording Academy for an interim arrangement and that it will refer the matter to the WGA West Board of Directors.

But earlier, the WGA indicated it did not plan on granting a waiver for CBS’ Feb. 10 telecast. WGA spokesman Gregg Mitchell said the guild hadn’t yet received word from the Recording Academy, but that any request is ”unlikely to be granted.”

Still, ‘the Recording Academy is remains hopeful that there will be a quick and positive response,” said the organization’s president and CEO, Neil Portnow.

Without a waiver, not only would the Recording Academy be unable to hire union scribes to write scripted packages paying tribute to Grammy’s 50th anniversary, writers could set up a picket line in front of Los Angeles’ Staples Center.

In turn, Screen Actors Guild members would be loath to break ranks with their WGA brethren, thus diminishing the Grammy star power. Last year’s Grammys featured Chris Rock, Nicolas Cage,Luke Wilson and Samuel L. Jackson in attendance. A similar number of stars was expected at the 2008 edition.

Further complicating matters is that many Grammy-loved musicians moonlight as SAG members, including Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Jack White, Beyoncé Knowles, Fantasia Barrino, Jon Bon Jovi, and Queen Latifah, and the WGA is pressuring them to boycott the bash.

Then, of course, there are blue-collar rockers like Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Joni Mitchell and Steve Earle—all of whom are nominated this year and, as strong union supporters throughout their careers, they have traditionally refused to cross picket lines.

The Recording Academy typically unveils its list of performers and presenters three weeks before the actual ceremony.

“Let me reiterate our desire to bring this matter to a positive resolution working with the WGA,” Portnow said.

“And to slightly alter a famous saying in our world, ‘The Show will go on.’ We will take whatever action is necessary to ensure that a program so vital to our industry, artists, charitable beneficiaries, and the great city of Los Angeles is held as planned. Accordingly, all preparations by th Academy for our milestone 50th Annual Grammy Awards remain in full-swing.”

While the Grammys seem to be striking the wrong chord with the WGA, the NAACP Image Awards are getting a flyer.

The WGA announced Tuesday it had granted a waiver to organizers of the 39th annual awardscast, which honors people of color in film, TV, music and literature. The WGA has granted similar waivers to the the SAG Awards and Independent Spirit Awards.

That’s good news for such nominees as Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin, Will Smith, America Ferrera, Taye Diggs and Jordin Sparks, all of whom are free to attend the Feb. 14 ceremony without the fear of union backlash.

Meanwhile, as the strike goes on and scribes’ beards grow ever bushier in their battle for a greater share of the new media pie, several studios are taking action.

Disney-owned ABC Studios, 20th Century Fox Television, CBS Paramount Network Television, NBC Universal and Warner Bros. Television have confirmed plans to terminate development and production pacts with a multitude of writers.

January traditionally marks the occasion when writers who have deals with studios get to work hatching new comedy and drama series for the upcoming television season.

The WGA said in a statement that such moves were “alienating the very creative force that has made entertainment one of the most successful businesses in the country.”

Finally, the guild has signed additional interim agreements with two more major film production companies, following recent news that the guild had reached separate independent accords with the Weinstein Company, United Artists and David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants.

The deal with Spyglass Entertainment and Media Rights Capital allows them to hire screenwriters until an industry-wide agreement takes its place.

The WGA hopes the current side deals—which are estimated to give writers a 2.5 percent stake in a distributor’s gross for TV properties presented on the Web and 2 percent of the gross for airing movies online—puts more pressure on the big five studios to return to the bargaining table.