Combs is a former boyfriend of Hispanic singer Jennifer Lopez

The audience heard black and Hispanic people accounted for 58% of the 774,000 Aids cases recorded in the US by the end of 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Chairing the event, hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, who records under the name P Diddy, urged the audience to practise safe sex.

"We're going to beat this epidemic in our own community," he said. "We've got to protect ourselves."

We don't need white people to fight our fight. We really can do it ourselves.

Rosie Perez

Actress Rosie Perez, who was given an award for her work against Aids, said too few members of the black and Hispanic communities were lobbying politicians with her.

"We don't need white people to fight our fight. We really can do it ourselves," she said.

"In saying that, I want to thank white people for fighting our fight," Perez added.

As well as P Diddy, Keys and Jay-Z, rapper Ja Rule and soul singer Musiq played at the event.