Obama honours Springsteen, De Niro

Bruce Springsteen, Robert De Niro and Mel Brooks have been awarded Kennedy Centre honours by Barack Obama.

The annual awards celebrate famous names from the world of arts who have contributed to US culture. Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck and opera singer Grace Bumbry were also honoured yesterday.

John Mellencamp, Jennifer Nettles, Melissa Etheridge and Sting all performed Springsteen tracks at the event, which will be screened on US TV later this month.

Introducing Springsteen at the event, President Obama joked: "I'm the president but he's the boss."

Afterwards, the 'Born To Run' singer commented: "We worked really hard for our music to be part of American life and our fans' lives. So it's an acknowledgement that you've kind of threaded your way into the culture in a certain way. It's satisfying."

Actors Jack Black, Edward Norton, Matthew Broderick, Ben Stiller and director Martin Scorsese were among the special guests at the ceremony.