A-list stars honour Jonathan Ross

George Michael presented Jonathan Ross with his award

Jonathan Ross has been presented with the 2009 Music Industry Trusts' Award by George Michael at a charity dinner in London.

The prize, now in its 18th year, is given annually "in recognition of services to music broadcasting".

Award organisers said Ross had provided exposure for artists since his first chat show The Last Resort in the 1980s.

Messages from Sir Tom Jones, Will Smith, U2 and Cheryl Cole were shown in a video tribute to Ross at the event.

Hollywood star Smith said: "You are important to me and to my life. This is a very prestigious award."

Music therapy

Chairman of the Award committee David Munns told the audience why Ross had been chosen.

"For over two decades Jonathan Ross has been an important part of the UK music landscape and has provided valuable support to artists in challenging times," he said.

"His passion for music, enthusiasm for discovering and encouraging musicians and the importance of his two shows for artist development, makes Jonathan Ross a worthy recipient of the 2009 MITs Award," he added.

On hearing the news he would be this year's recipient, Ross said it was "an incredible honour" from an industry he had "always loved".

The Trust's charities are the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and the BRIT Trust which includes the BRIT school for performing arts and technology.

Previous recipients of the award include Sir Michael Parkinson, Sir George Martin, Sir Elton John, Peter Gabriel and Kylie Minogue.