Kennedy Center Honors
Last week, the Apollo theater in Harlem was selected as the first venue to receive a Kennedy Center Honor. The Apollo will receive a special award as an iconic American institution, right alongside the four individuals who are being honored — Bonnie Raitt; Grateful Dead; jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composer Arturo Sandoval; and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.
The prestigious honors will be presented on Dec. 8 at a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. CBS will broadcast the two-hour program on Dec. 23.
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“The Apollo, one of the most consequential, influential institutions in history, has elevated the voices of Black entertainment in New York City, nationally, and around the world, and launched the careers of legions of artists,” Kennedy Center chairman David M. Rubenstein said in a statement announcing the surprise selection.
This is a rare occasion that the Kennedy Center Honors has veered from its usual practice of honoring individuals. Six years ago, the program honored four key creators of the Broadway sensation Hamilton: An American Musical (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, Alex Lacamoire, and Andy Blankenbuehler). Five years ago, it honored the legendary children’s TV program Sesame Street (the award was presented to the show’s creators, Lloyd Morrisett and Joan Ganz Cooney).
It’s easy to see why the Kennedy Center chose the Apollo to receive this honor. For 90 years, The Apollo has been a beacon of the Harlem community; a platform for artists from the worlds of jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Artists who have played The Apollo’s famed Amateur Night include Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, H.E.R., D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill and Miri Ben-Ari.
Now that The Apollo has gotten the nod, what other venues would you like the Kennedy Center Honors to consider for recognition? Here are 20 choices, in alphabetical order:
Which venue should the Kennedy Center Honors consider for recognition next?
This morning’s announcement that the Grateful Dead will receive the Kennedy Center Honors in December is the latest sign that that the Kennedy Center has finally gotten the memo – In music, sometimes people do their best and most lasting work in groups.
The Kennedy Center Honors was set up in 1978 to honor individuals. It wasn’t until 2008 that the Center recognized its first musical group: The Who. Before that, they had singled out the most famous member of a group or duo for honors – Paul Simon (2002), Tina Turner (2005), Smokey Robinson (2006), Diana Ross (2007) and Brian Wilson (2007).
Even after 2008, the Kennedy Center often opted to single out a member of a group rather than honor the entire group. The Beatles should certainly have been honored by the Kennedy Center, but the Center selected Paul McCartney for a solo honor in 2002. (McCartney was unable to attend that year due to a family commitment and was finally honored in 2010.)
Other group members who were honored as individuals instead of as part of the groups with which they first achieved fame are Carlos Santana (2013), Sting (2014), Mavis Staples (2016), Gloria Estefan (2017), Lionel Richie (2017), Cher (2018), Gladys Knight (2022) and Barry Gibb (2023). In some cases, it made more sense to honor the individuals. In other cases, it made less sense. Even Barry Gibb would doubtless say that his best and most lasting work was done in the Bee Gees alongside his brothers Robin and Maurice.
Both of Gibb’s brothers had died by 2023, and the Kennedy Center generally doesn’t honor people posthumously — though it made an exception for Glenn Frey, who had died by the time the Eagles were honored in December 2016. (He was alive when the group was selected in 2015. Miranda Lambert performed the Eagles classic “Desperado” on the 2015 show as a mini-tribute.)
The rule about not honoring group members posthumously needs review. To honor Earth, Wind & Fire, as the Kennedy Center did in 2016, without honoring its mastermind Maurice White is hard to fathom. Likewise, to honor Grateful Dead without recognizing its principal songwriter and lead guitarist Jerry Garcia just seems off.
This year’s other honorees are Bonnie Raitt; jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval; filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola; and the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, which is the first venue to be honored.
Here’s a complete list of the groups that have been received Kennedy Center Honors, together with the dates they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and that they received lifetime achievement awards from the Recording Academy.
The Who (2008)
Image Credit: Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images
The 2024 Kennedy Center Honors will feature a mix of the psychedelic and the soulful with a touch of jazz. The John F. Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts announced the selections for this year’s 47th annual Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements on Thursday (July 18), a list that includes director Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now, The Godfather), jam godfathers the Grateful Dead, blues singer/guitarist Bonnie Raitt, jazz trumpeter/pianist/composer Arturo Sandoval and, in a first, The Apollo theater in Harlem in a special honor as an iconic American Institution.
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“The Kennedy Center Honors recognizes artists who have made an extraordinary impact on the cultural life of our nation and continue to have an immeasurable influence on new generations,” said Kennedy Center chairman David M. Rubenstein in a statement about the event that will take place in Washington, D.C. on December 8 and air on CBS (and later stream on Paramount+).
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Rubenstein continued, ““A brilliant and masterful storyteller with an unrelenting innovative spirit, Francis Ford Coppola’s films have become embedded in the very idea of American culture; a social and cultural phenomenon since 1965, the Grateful Dead’s music has never stopped being a true American original, while inspiring a fan culture like no other; Bonnie Raitt has made us love her again and again with her inimitable voice, slide guitar, and endless musical range encompassing blues, R&B, country rock, and folk; ‘an ambassador of both music and humanity,’Arturo Sandoval transcended literal borders coming from Cuba 30-plus years ago and today continues to bridge cultures with his intoxicating blend of Afro Cuban rhythms and modern jazz; and on its 90th anniversary, The Apollo, one of the most consequential, influential institutions in history, has elevated the voices of Black entertainment in New York City, nationally, and around the world, and launched the careers of legions of artists.”
The Kennedy Center Honors celebrates individuals whose unique contributions to American arts and culture at an event where the the honorees are seated in the box tier of the Kennedy Center Opera House while their peers pay homage with performances and tributes.
In a statement, Raitt said, “I am deeply honored and thrilled to have been chosen to receive one of this year’s Kennedy Center Honors. I have long been an admirer of the awards and have been so blessed to be able to participate in several shows honoring others. There is no higher level of esteem nor as delightful a celebration and I want to extend my sincere thanks to all who have chosen me to receive this honor. I look forward to the upcoming ceremony and festivities, which I know will be one of my life’s peak experiences.”
The Dead’s living members — Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bobby Weir — were equally effusive in their excitement about receiving one of the nation’s highest artistic honors. “It goes without saying that the Kennedy Center Honors represents the highest of reaches for artistic achievement,” they wrote in a joint statement. “To be recognized alongside the artists who have in the past received this honor is beyond humbling. The Grateful Dead has always been about community, creativity, and exploration in music and presentation. We’ve always felt that the music we make embodies and imparts something beyond the notes and phrases being played — and that is something we are privileged to share with all who are drawn to what we do — so it also must be said that our music belongs as much to our fans, the Dead Heads, as it does to us. This honor, then, is as much theirs as ours.”
They continued, “From our earliest days in San Francisco and as far as our tours have taken us, it has been and still is an incredible ride. We’ve had the opportunity to play with many talented musicians, interact with many gifted people—and to be part of something much larger than ourselves. Our music has always been about exploration and breaking through or finding our way around barriers, not just musically but also in bringing people together. The energy, the love, the connection and sharing — once again, that’s what it’s all about. As we enter our 60th year of the Grateful Dead’s journey in 2025, we’re beyond grateful for this recognition and for the journey we are on together. This honor reminds us of all those moments and the people who helped us along the way. Thank you, Kennedy Center, and to all the folks who had a hand in bringing us here, for this incredible honor.”
Sandoval, too, said he was “profoundly humbled and deeply honored” to be selected as a recipient of the prestigious award. “This recognition is an extraordinary milestone in my career and a testament to the support and encouragement I have received from my family, friends, colleagues, and fans,” said Sandoval. “Throughout my journey, I have strived to create, perform, and inspire with passion and integrity. Being acknowledged by such an esteemed institution validates my efforts and motivates me to continue pushing the boundaries of my art. I am incredibly grateful to the Kennedy Center for this honor, and I look forward to contributing further to the vibrant cultural tapestry that the Center celebrates and nurtures. Thank you once again for this incredible honor.”
Michelle Ebanks, president/CEO of Harlem’s legendary Apollo — which over its long history has hosted everyone from Josephine Baker and Count Basie to James Brown, B.B. King, Bob Marley, Sam Cooke and Michael Jackson , among many others — also said her organization was elated by the first-time honor for an institution.
“We are thrilled to be the first organization honored in the history of the Kennedy Center Awards, emphasizing The Apollo’s impact on the past, present, and future of American culture and the performing arts,” Ebanks said. “From the longest-running talent show in America with Amateur Night at The Apollo, which launched the careers of icons like Ella Fitzgerald and Lauryn Hill, to performances from beloved legends like Smokey Robinson and Lil’ Kim and today’s biggest stars like Drake, The Apollo has always been a home for artists to create and a home for audiences to see incredible music and art from legendary artists.”
Last year’s honorees included Queen Latifah, Dionne Warwick, the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb, comedian Billy Crystal and soprano Renée Fleming.
To learn more about this year’s honorees click here.
It was a night of high notes at the Kennedy Center Honors, and not only because Sir Barry Gibb —and his signature falsetto — was inducted into the 2023 class along with Dionne Warwick, Queen Latifah, acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming and Billy Crystal.
Now in its 46th iteration, the Honors has steadily been morphing from a staid affair to a full-scale entertainment spectacle befitting the nation’s highest honor bestowed for artistic achievement. This year’s gala, held Sunday (Dec. 3) with President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and a host of DC power players in the house, packed dazzle and dignity — and plenty of star power.
Host and 2017 honoree Gloria Estefan, as well as Michael Bublé, Dove Cameron, Ariana DeBose, Robert De Niro, Sheila E, Missy Elliott, Cynthia Erivo, Whoopi Goldberg, Gladys Knight, Jay Leno, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rita Moreno, Ego Nwodim, Rob Reiner, Meg Ryan and Kerry Washington were among those who took the stage to fete the night’s guests of honor.
Gibb, 77, is one of the most prolific songwriters in history. He has written or co-written hundreds of songs, many alongside brothers Robin and Maurice as hitmaking machine the Bee Gees, whose songbook defined both disco and reinvention. Gibb penned the title track of the film Grease, performed by Frankie Valli; and together with the Bee Gees wrote the 1983 crossover smash “Islands in the Stream,” which Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers took to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The eldest and last living member of the family brotherhood, Gibb said before the show that he felt the presence of his siblings as he prepared to take his seat in the balcony of the opera house. “It’s very emotional; there’s something going on in the air and you just feel it,” he said of feeling the presence of late brothers Robin, Maurice and Andy Gibb.
Also emotional pre-show was Bublé, who described how Gibb jump-started his career 20 years ago by dueting with him on Bublé’s first album on one of his own songs. “I was working with producer David Foster and David said, ‘We have no heat, we need a duet.’ And no matter who we sent ‘How Can You Mend a Broken Heart’ to, we couldn’t get someone to duet.” Foster got Buble’s version of the song to Gibb, “and two days later my first duet was with Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees, and it changed my life,” Bublé said.
Bublé performed the track during Gibb’s tribute, which also included a compelling version of “Lonely Days” by Little Big Town, who collaborated with Gibb on his 2021 album Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook, Vol. 1,; a fittingly theatrical version of “Nights on Broadway” by Ben Platt; and a disco-infused medley featuring DeBose accompanied on piano by Chloe Flower that was the perfect crescendo to close out the night in a swirl of confetti.
Gibb’s son Stephen Gibb gave a heartfelt homage, noting, “My father somehow was gifted with a heart-focused, supernatural ability to express himself in song, which has allowed him to connect with people on such a mass level.”
Clive Davis was on hand to praise Warwick, 82, who counts the Bee Gees-penned “Heartbreaker” among her 56 charted hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and a reported 100 million records sold. He recounted the phenomenon of Warwick’s early partnership with Burt Bacharach and Hal David and the legacy that led her to win Grammys for their songs “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.” She has since won three more Grammys plus a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy.
“There simply is no song that Dionne Warwick cannot sing,” Davis said. “The lexicon of her hits is as great and as deep as any artist who has ever recorded.”
After 2020 Kennedy Center honoree Debbie Allen and 2013 honoree Herbie Hancock bestowed accolades for Warwick’s humanitarian activism, including her collaboration with Elton John, Knight and Stevie Wonder on “That’s What Friends Are For” — the 1985 hit and first recording dedicated to raising AIDS awareness — the musical tributes started to flow.
Mickey Guyton and The Spinners delivered a smooth and spirited rendition of “Then Came You”; Erivo manifested a soaring “Alfie,” which brought Warwick to tears; and Knight offered up a perfectly punctuated version of “I Say a Little Prayer.”
Before her time on stage, Saturday Night Live cast member Nwodim gushed about her experience portraying Warwick, alongside the real Warwick, in a now-storied sketch. “Her embrace of the impression and then publicly celebrating it was really special to me,” she said. “I am eternally grateful to her for that.”
Latifah, 53, is the first female rapper to receive Honors, and Moreno and Washington dove deep into the reasons why during their tributes, before an assembly of rap and hip-hop heavyweights —including Monie Love, MC Lyte, D-Nice, Yo-Yo and Rapsody — cranked up the volume with a medley including Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.” and “Ladies First.”
As one of the artists to pay tribute to LL Cool J when he became the first hip-hop artist to receive Honors, Latifah told Billboard pre-show she was embracing her moment. “It’s trippy to be here for myself tonight,” she said. “I feel very honored. I’m very, very humbled. Being honored the same year as hip-hop’s 50th anniversary? “Icing on the cake.”
Latifah recently inducted Missy Elliott into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Elliott returned the favor with an intimate tribute that brought both laughs and knowing nods. By crowning herself Queen, Elliott said, Latifah is saying, “People will respect me, I will be a leader, I will be a provider, I will be an inspiration to many. I will be the blueprint to success. I don’t set the bar, I am the bar.”
Crystal, 75, joins an elite group of comedy performers — including David Letterman, Steve Martin and Carol Burnett — to be bestowed with both the Kennedy Center Honor and the Center’s Mark Twain Prize, which he received in 2007.
He was feeling patriotic when Billboard caught up with him before the show. Describing his experience at the dinner hosted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken the night before, he said, “Secretary Blinken had just flown in from Tel Aviv, he landed at 5 a.m. and in the middle of this horrendous situation, he hosts us, makes a brilliant speech about the arts… and then they put [the lanyard] on us. It’s spectacular. This is our country. This is who we are, and more people should feel that and be positive about America. This isn’t an awards show. This is about appreciation for the soul of our artistic community, and that’s a beautiful thing.”
Rob Reiner, in town to celebrate his friend whom he directed in The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally… (and This Is Spinal Tap, if you count that one line), noted on the red carpet, “The guy is a great comedian and he’s also not afraid to show his feelings, and that’s a rare combination.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda realized a different kind of dream. “I’ve been dreaming of doing an Oscar-style tribute to Billy Crystal since I was 10,” he said of the nine-time Academy Awards host before launching into the perfect Crystal-esque number, complete with song and dance.
Ryan reminisced about that fateful scene from When Harry Met Sally… —“I’ve never been around anyone who makes faking an orgasm easier”— Goldberg recalled the early days of Comic Relief working with Crystal and the late, great Robin Williams (whose absence was deeply felt). “We were constantly being reminded to behave ourselves, which we did not,” she said, while Bob Costas honored their shared love of baseball and the Yankees. Between dropping “f” bombs, De Niro dropped some priceless jokes.
“I had no idea you’d won so much,” he said to Crystal. “And you’ve done it all in such a relatively short amount of time. You’re only 71. That means you’re just about six years away from bring the perfect age to be elected President,” he snarked, right in front of 81-year-old President Biden.
Fleming, 64, is one of the most prominent sopranos of our time, and her tribute showcased the breadth of her influence. She was the first opera singer to perform the National Anthem at a Super Bowl, in 2014. She also launched the first ongoing collaboration between the Kennedy Center and the National Institutes of Health.
Presenters included Christine Baranski, a fellow Juilliard alum, who reminded the audience that Fleming once sang the top 10 on list on David Letterman’s late-night show, and Titus Burgess, who demonstrated some serious pipes.
Dove Cameron, who appeared alongside Fleming in the musical The Light in the Piazza, shared, “I was never not astounded by the quality of human Renee is,” Cameron said before showcasing her own musical chops performing the title track from that show.
This year’s Kennedy Center Honors special was again produced by Done+Dusted, in association with ROK Productions. The special will air Wednesday, Dec. 27 on CBS and stream live and on demand on the CBS app and Paramount+.
In the span of four minutes, Sacha Baron Cohen hilariously scorched Kanye West, honored U2, dissed Donald Trump, made President Joe Biden laugh and played himself out on a keytar, all in character as his beloved Borat persona. It all went down Dec. 4 at the 2022 Kennedy Center Honors event, and on Thursday (Dec. 29), the arts organization shared a video of the moment so that everyone who wasn’t in attendance can see — and laugh — for themselves.
In the video, Baron Cohen steps out onstage dressed in Borat’s signature suit and bushy mustache, greeting a crowd that also included honorees George Clooney, Amy Grant and Gladys Knight. The comedian — who is Jewish — was there to help celebrate U2, also one of the night’s honorees, but it didn’t take long for him to get topical with his speech.
“I must say I’m very upset about the antisemitism in U.S. and A,” he said. “It’s not fair. Kazakhstan is No. 1 Jew-crushing nation. Stop stealing our hobby!”
Of course, antisemitism has been thrust into the center of public discussion in the past couple months thanks in particular to Kanye West (who now goes by Ye). The rapper has been banned by several social media platforms and has been dropped from his deals with major brands — losing his billionaire status in the process — because of his repeated use of hate speech online and in interviews attacking Jewish people.
“Your Kanye, he tried to move to Kazakhstan and he even changed his name to Kazakhstan-ye West,” Baron Cohen continued, his Borat character a fictional journalist from the real country Kazakhstan. “We said no, he too antisemitic even for us.”
Baron Cohen also saved a little heat for the guys of U2, making a dig at their infamous partnership with Apple that involved the band’s 2014 album, Songs of Innocence, being automatically downloaded onto iTunes users’ personal devices, angering many. He also performed his own Borat-ified cover of one of the band’s biggest hits, “With or Without You,” earning uncomfortable laughs from the audience by replacing the word “you” with “Jews.”
“What the problem? They loved this at Mar-a-Lago,” he quipped, referencing Donald Trump’s current residence before performing a spirited solo on his keytar.
Watch Borat’s Kennedy Center Honors speech above. Want to check out the entire event? Here’s how you can stream it.
There is nothing funny about Kanye West‘s repeated amplification of antisemitic tropes and hate speech over the past month. In a series of interviews and media appearances, the artist who now goes by Ye has made a series of comments denigrating the Jewish people, culminating last week with an appearance on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ show in which Ye stated “I like Hitler.”
But if there is one person who has the unique ability to transform hate into hilarity, it is Sacha Baron Cohen. The acclaimed comedian — who is Jewish — appeared at this weekend’s Kennedy Center Honors in the guise of his belovedly profane, offensive-to-everyone dopey journalist character Borat Sagdiyev to pay tribute to honorees U2.
Kazakhstan’s least reliable source of news took the stage and expressed genuine confusion that President Biden is the current White House resident. “I know the president of U.S. and A is here. Where are you, Mr. Trump?” Borat asked according to a transcript of the appearance from The Guardian.
“You don’t look so good,” Borat said to Biden. “Where has your glorious big belly gone? And your pretty orange skin has become pale… But I see you have a new wife. Wawa-woooah! She is very erotic. I must look away before I get a Bono.”
But the sharpest barbs from the comedian whose work skewers hate and intolerance with even more absurdly hateful, intolerant punchlines that shine a sharp satiric light on xenophobic and homophobic hate speech went all-in on Ye in the wake of the rapper’s latest exile from Twitter for posting an image of a swastika last week.
“Before I proceed, I will say I am very upset about the antisemitism in US and A. It not fair,” Borat said. “Kazakhstan is No 1 Jew-crushing nation. Stop stealing our hobby. Stop the steal! Stop the steal! Your Kanye, he tried to move to Kazakhstan and even changed his name to Kazakhstan-Ye West. But we said: ‘No, he too antisemitic, even for us.’”
In a classic Borat bit, Cohen then sang a brief parody of U2’s “Without or Without You,” with the lyrics switched up to “With or Without Jews,” as titters erupted in the crowd and he asked, “What’s the problem? They loved this at Mar-a-Lago. They chose Without Jews.”
West, who does not appear to be promoting any projects at the moment, has been on a month-long media tour of right-wing media outlets in which he has unashamedly denigrated the Jewish people while also praising the murderous Nazi regime. The disgraced MC whose once-massive music and fashion portfolio has gone into free-fall since he began spouting antisemitic and racist statements continued his bizarre hate tour on his Instagram feed on Sunday when he made what was couched as a joke about Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s ethnic heritage.
“Am I the only one who thinks Elon could be half-Chinese?,” West asked. “Have you ever seen his pics as a child?” Musk was born in South Africa to a Canadian mother and South African father and it was unclear what West was referring to in questioning the billionaire Space X/Tesla founder’s ethnicity.
Without mentioning Ye by name, President Biden issued a pointed statement on the dangers of antisemitism and the embrace of Nazis on Friday in the wake of West’s Hitler praise on Jones’ show. “I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure,” Biden tweeted in a statement. “And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity.”
The strongly worded statement from Biden starkly contrasted with the recent scene at Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago resort, where the twice-impeached president hosted Ye as well as far right activist and white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who is also known for spewing antisemitic rhetoric. Also present at the lunch that Trump hosted on the high-visibility patio at his golf club was Ye’s apparent 2024 presidential campaign manager — who has reportedly since been fired — professional right-wing troll Milo Yiannopoulos, who has been blocked from most major social media platforms for his slurs against Islam and feminism, and his embrace of antisemitic figures.
West’s doubling and tripling-down on hate speech comes just months after the Anti-Defamation League — which tracks anti-Semitic behavior nationwide — reported a 34% rise in anti-Semitic incidents in 2021 (to 2,717), which averaged out to more than seven such incidents per day.
U2 was in the house, and so were George Clooney, Gladys Knight, Amy Grant and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and conductor Tania Leon. To say expectations were high for Sunday night’s (Dec. 6) 45th iteration of the Kennedy Center Honors would be an understatement.
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And they were largely, if unevenly, met at the star-studded event attended by President Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was accompanied by her husband Paul Pelosi, donning a hat and glove on one hand, who made his first public appearance since being beaten in October in their San Francisco home.
Knight had performed for 2020 honoree Garth Brooks, who hosted this year’s State Department dinner the preceding night where the honorees received their medallions, and he returned the courtesy by performing her hit “Midnight Train to Georgia,” while schooling the audience on the song’s country roots.
Ariana DeBose talked about how she listened to Knight’s music growing up in North Carolina before launching into “Heard It Through the Grapevine.” And a teary-eyed Patti LaBelle honored her “sister-friend” with stories of their personal and professional bond through six decades before launching into “That’s What Friends Are For.”
LL Cool J had high praise for one of his musical heroes. “Like stars in the night’s sky, Gladys Knight illuminates everyone in her orbit,” he said, adding, “I once heard Gladys sing the ABCs and I thought I was in church.”
On the red carpet before the show, Knight was all smiles about getting to spend time with the current President. ”I feel like he’s my brother. We go back, and he has such a tender heart,” she said.
Julia Roberts set the stage for the Clooney tribute wearing a gown embellished with photos of her longtime friend. After doing a bit of good-natured roasting she applauded him for being “profoundly present and attentive to the world outside of himself” and calling Clooney “the best combination of a gentleman and a playmate.”
The roasting continued with Richard Kind declaring “we could solve world problems if everyone could agree” the way they do about Clooney’s failed run as the Dark Knight in 1997’s “Batman & Robin,” and Matt Damon sharing that Clooney once dedicated in Kind’s kitty litter box and stole stationery from then-President Bill Clinton and wrote notes to fellow actors on it.
But there was plenty of focus on Clooney’s humanitarian efforts, which began at a very young age. His father, Nick Clooney, shared a story about how a 7-year-old George gave up all his toy guns because he was so heartbroken after Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968. Don Cheadle spoke about his efforts working with Clooney to help the people of Sudan’s Darfur region and how the two recently co-founded a school.
Asked before the show whether being in D.C. had made him reconsider a once-rumored second career in politics, Clooney turned to his wife Amal and said, “Nah. We have a very nice life.”
Cuba-born Leon, who won the Pulitzer Prize for composing the orchestral work “Stride” that was inspired by the activism of Susan B. Anthony, was feted by pianist, producer and composer Chloe Flower and the Kennedy Center’s artistic director for jazz Jason Moran, among others.
Speaking before the show, Leon said she was inspired by the opportunity to be in the White House, which she’d never visited as a tourist. “All this is going to hit me. After I get home and I settle in and have a little bit of tea, I know this is going to do something to me,” she said.
Grant is the first contemporary Christian artist to be bestowed a rainbow lanyard. Outspoken in her support for the LGBTQ+ community, she’s been pushing musical and cultural boundaries for decades. Of her guiding principle, she told Billboard, “My mother said to me, and what I say to my children, ‘You have to wrap your arms around your own life, and no one can hear your heart but you.’ “
Her segment focused on her dedication to faith and family. Katie Couric called her “the perfect elixir for troubled minds and troubled souls.” Sheryl Crow noted, “Amy taught me it’s possible to be funny, irreverent and Christian at the same time” before breaking into a rendition of Grant’s No. 1 hit “Baby Baby,” which, it turns out, Grant was inspired to write when one of her daughters was an infant.
Gospel duo BeBe & CeCe Winans lent their soaring vocals to a medley of Grant tunes, as did all of the Highwomen—Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires.
Speaking with Billboard pre-show, Carlile talked about how moved she was being able to perform for both Grant and U2 at the show.
“The thing about those two that touches me the most deeply is that they play out their music, their ambassadorship, their philanthropy through a faith-based lens, really the Christian faith, right on their sleeve, which is a difficult subject for me and people like me,” she said.
“We’ve all been a little bit marginalized by that faith and for some of us it’s a source of a lot of trauma. And so the way that U2 and Amy Grant have really come out and publicly supported LGBTQIA people, it’s been really healing and life-affirming for a lot of us. So it’s the least I can do to be here tonight.”
Which brings us to the show-closing tribute to U2 members Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. Credit to Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, who in prime Vedder form poured his all into “Elevation” and “One,” the latter of which was a last-minute addition after Mary J Blige had to bow out due to illness.
Just as things were picking up momentum and it seemed the audience may be ready to rise from their seats for some dancing, Sacha Baron Cohen appeared on stage in character as his alter-ego Borat Sagdiyev, the dimwitted journalist from Kazakhstan.
Yes, any time Borat shows up you can expect it to get weird and yes, he was hysterical, riffing on everything from his confusion that President Trump was no longer in office to Kanye West’s recent fall from grace: “He even tried to move to Kazakhstan, and he even changed his name to Kazakhstan-ye West. But we said no, he’s too antisemitic even for us.”
But his banter had very little to do with U2 and seemed an odd way to use the band’s allotted time. When Carlile came back out, joined by Hozier, to perform a rendition of “Walk On,” it felt like a bit of a rushed finale when many of the night’s previous performers appeared back on stage.
This is, after all, U2, one of the most celebrated rock bands of all time with 22 Grammys and 170 million albums sold worldwide. To not have included more music, no songs from their defining 1987 album The Joshua Tree, no crescendo’ing anthems, just seemed like a miss.
The 2022 Kennedy Center Honors will air Wednesday, December 28 at 8pm on CBS and stream on sister network Paramount+.
UPDATE (Nov. 17): The 45th annual Kennedy Center Honors have an air date: Wednesday, Dec. 28 (8-10 p.m ET/PT) on CBS. Paramount+ Premium subscribers will have access to stream live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service as well as on demand. Essential-tier subscribers will have access to on-demand the day after the special airs. As previously announced, the show will tape on Sunday, Dec. 4 in Washington, D.C.
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PREVIOUSLY (July 21): U2, Gladys Knight, Amy Grant, actor-director George Clooney and Cuban-born composer, conductor and educator Tania León are the 2022 Kennedy Center Honors recipients.
The 45th edition of the prestigious awards, presented for lifetime artistic achievements, will be held on Sunday, Dec. 4, on the Opera House stage at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The Honors Gala will be recorded for broadcast on CBS at a later date as a two-hour prime-time special and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.
U2 is the fifth band to receive the honor, following The Who (2008), Led Zeppelin (2012), Eagles (2016) and Earth, Wind & Fire (2019). Before 2008, the Kennedy Center Honors focused entirely on individuals. Brian Wilson was honored rather The Beach Boys, for example. U2 consists of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr.
Knight is the fifth Motown Records alumnus to receive the honor, following Stevie Wonder (1999), Smokey Robinson (2006), Diana Ross (2007) and Lionel Richie (2017). Last year, Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. was saluted. Gladys Knight & the Pips had a long string of hits on Motown, including “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye).”
Knight has won seven Grammys; impressively, in three different musical fields – pop, R&B and gospel. At the 1973 Grammys, Knight & the Pips became the first group to win in both pop (for “Neither One of Us”) and R&B (for the immortal “Midnight Train to Georgia,” one of the most classic recordings of the past half-century).
U2 has won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other group in history. Their Grammy haul includes two wins each for album of the year (The Joshua Tree and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb), record of the year (“Beautiful Day” and “Walk On”) and song of the year (“Beautiful Day” and “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own”).
Grant has won six Grammys – all in the gospel field. Her most recent Grammy was best Southern, country or bluegrass gospel album for Rock of Ages…Hymns & Faith in 2005. Grant was nominated for album, record and song of the year at the 1991 Grammys for her smash “Baby Baby,” a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and her album Heart in Motion, which made the top 10 on the Billboard 200.
Grant is among the very few gospel honorees in Kennedy Center Honors history. Marion Williams was a 1993 honoree.
León received a 2012 Grammy nomination for best contemporary classical composition for Inura for Voices, Strings and Percussion.
Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. U2 were inducted in 2005.
Clooney is a two-time Oscar winner – best supporting actor for Syriana (2005) and best picture for co-producing Argo (2012). He has also been nominated for directing and writing Oscars. He received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2010 Emmy Awards. Clooney’s dozens of films include O Brother, Where Art Thou?. The soundtrack to that film topped the Billboard 200 in March 2002, after winning the Grammy for album of the year.
Grant’s husband, Vince Gill, has yet to receive a Kennedy Center Honor, but very well may someday. Such peers as Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire have been honored. Clooney’s aunt, the great pop and jazz singer Rosemary Clooney, was not chosen as an honoree. These awards are not presented posthumously, so there is no chance that she will be.
The 45th Kennedy Center Honors Gala concludes with a dinner in the Grand Foyer.
The Honors recipients are recognized for their contributions to American culture through the performing arts—whether in music, dance, theater, opera, motion pictures, or television—and are confirmed by the executive committee of the Center’s board of trustees.
Deborah F. Rutter, Kennedy Center president, noted: “For nearly a half-century, the Kennedy Center Honors has represented the very best of America’s creative culture. The Honors is often referred to by past recipients as the pinnacle of awards because it recognizes not just one performance, album, or film, but esteems an artist’s cumulative body of work and influence over many decades…”
Done+Dusted, producers of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize since 2018, have been selected as executive producers of the 45th annual Kennedy Center Honors. Done+Dusted will produce the show in association with ROK Productions, represented by Elizabeth Kelly, who will executive produce alongside David Jammy and Ian Stewart. The show will be directed by Alex Rudzinski.
Here are complete and unabridged statements from each of the 45th Kennedy Center Honorees:
“Growing up in a small town in Kentucky I could never have imagined that someday I’d be the one sitting in the balcony at the Kennedy Center Honors. To be mentioned in the same breath with the rest of these incredible artists is an honor. This is a genuinely exciting surprise for the whole Clooney family.” –George Clooney
“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine ever receiving this prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. Through the years, I’ve watched so many of my heroes serenaded by colleagues and fellow artists, always moved by the ability of music and film to bring us together and to see the best in each other. I cannot wait to celebrate with my fellow honorees, friends, and family. Thank you for widening the circle to include all of us.” –Amy Grant
“I’m humbled beyond words to be included amongst this prestigious group of individuals, both past and present. You could never have told me as a young girl starting my career that I would be honored on a stage such as this, with artists and humanitarians such as these—it just wouldn’t have seemed possible. It would have been the dream of all dreams. I have been blessed with so much in my life and this certainly stands with those achievements at the top of that list. To be honored as a Kennedy Center Honoree is among the highlights of my career. I stand here with my fans, my family, my friends, my team, and my faith in accepting such an amazing distinction. It is dedicated to all those who paved the path for me to be able to accomplish the wonderful blessings I’ve been able to receive. The Kennedy Center’s commitment to the arts is unparalleled and I am so very grateful for this moment.” –Gladys Knight
“Little did I imagine when studying in La Habana that life was going to grace me with such a distinction! My first thoughts went to my ancestors: they believed in my dreams, and what we lacked in material wealth, they made up for in spirit, encouragement, and support. My heartfelt thanks go to the many people who have blessed my path by helping my talent to blossom and by giving me the chance to be heard. I am incredibly humbled to join such a prestigious family of artists, and deeply grateful to the Kennedy Center for bestowing me with this incredible honor.” –Tania León
“In December 1980, we made our first trip across the Atlantic to America. Our first show was at The Ritz in New York City, the second, The Bayou in D.C. We had big dreams then, fueled in part by the commonly held belief at home that America smiles on Ireland. And it turned out to be true, yet again. But even in the wilder thoughts, we never imagined that 40 years on, we would be invited back to receive one of the nation’s greatest honours…It has been a four-decade love affair with the country and its people, its artists, and culture. We consider America to be a home away from home and we are very grateful to the Kennedy Center Honors for welcoming us into this great clan of extraordinary artists.” –U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr.)
For ticket inquiries, visit kennedy-center.org/honorsinfo or email Honors@kennedy-center.org.
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