Stars line up to pay tribute to man of the year Dickins.(Awards)

The Music Industry Trust dinner passed the magic 22m [pounds sterling] barrier in its 13th year last week, as Rob Dickins was honoured as man of the year.

The event, which was sponsored for the first time by" RealOne Rhapsody this year, raised in excess of 200,000 [pounds sterling] for the Brits School and Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy charities with its packed dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel. The raffle alone raised 16,500 [pounds sterling], with the remainder raised through ticket sales.

Sony Music's Gary Farrow, who is vice-chairman of the organising committee, says, "It has developed into a really prestigious event now. It is up there with the biggest events in the industry calendar."

The grand finale of the evening was provided by Rod Stewart, who Dickins signed to Warner Music, performing with Eighties star Howard Jones--another Dickins signing--on piano. "Rob, this shows how" much I love you--I had two tickets for Celtic tonight, but I didn't go," quipped Stewart.

Other high-profile artists and industry colleagues including Cher, Rod Stewart, the Corrs, Suggs, Seymour Stein, Bill Holland, Ahmet Ertegun, Bill Roedy, Peter Reichardt, Max Hole and Paul Conroy appeared on film to congratulate Dickins. In a telegram, Madonna described Dickins as "the Mother Teresa of the ...