Kennedy Center Honors - wikipedia Kennedy Center Honors Kennedy Center Honours Logotype symbolizing `` a spectrum of many skills within the performing arts '' Awarded for Lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts. Country US Presented by Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center First awarded 1978 Website Kennedy Center Honors The 2006 honorees at the Kennedy Center on December 6, 2006, with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. From left, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Steven Spielberg, Dolly Parton, Zubin Mehta, Smokey Robinson, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Lynne Cheney. The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture ( although recipients do not need to be U.S. citizens ). The honors have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in a star - studded gala celebrating the honorees in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Contents 1 History 1.1 Selection process 2 The events 3 Recipients 3.1 1970s 3.2 1980s 3.3 1990s 3.4 2000s 3.5 2010s 4 Prospective honorees who declined, canceled, or postponed 5 See also 6 References 7 External links History George Stevens Jr. created the Kennedy Center Honors with the late Nick Vanoff, and produced the first gala in 1978. He was the producer and co-writer through the 2014 awards, after which he sold the production rights to the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center Honors started in 1977, after that year 's 10th - anniversary White House reception and Kennedy Center program for the American Film Institute ( AFI ). Roger L. Stevens, the founding chairman of the Kennedy Center, asked George Stevens, Jr., ( no relation ), the founding director of the AFI, to hold an event for the Center. George Stevens asked Isaac Stern to become involved, and then `` pitched '' the idea to the television network CBS, who `` bought it. '' With the announcement of the first honors event and honorees, CBS vice president for specials Bernie Sofronski stated : George ( Stevens ) came to us with this. What turned us on is that this is the only show of its kind. In Europe and most countries, they have ways of honoring their actors and their athletes. England has its command performances for the queen. We see this as a national honoring of people who have contributed to society, not someone who happens to have a pop record hit at the moment... Our intention is not to do just another award show. We 're going to make an effort in terms of a real special. The first host was Leonard Bernstein in 1978, followed by Eric Sevareid in 1979 and Beverly Sills in 1980. Walter Cronkite hosted from 1981 to 2002 and Caroline Kennedy hosted from 2003 until 2012. Glenn Close was host in 2013 and Stephen Colbert has hosted since 2014. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry Entertainment were selected as Executive Producers of the 38th annual Kennedy Center Honors ( 2015 ) after George Stevens, Jr. stepped down. This is one of the few awards shows that does not air live ( with the exception of closed - circuit venues ), but a re-edited 92 - minute version generally airs on CBS after the Christmas holiday. Selection process Honoree recommendations are accepted from the general public, and the Kennedy Center initiated a Special Honors Advisory Committee, which comprises two members of the Board of Trustees as well as past Honorees and distinguished artists. The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees selects the Honoree recipients based on excellence in music, dance, theater, opera, motion pictures or television. The events The invitation - only weekend - long ceremony includes the Chairman 's Luncheon, State Department dinner, White House reception, and the Honors gala performances and supper. Surrounded by the Honorees, the luncheon is held on Saturday at the Kennedy Center, with a welcoming speech by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. At that evening 's reception and dinner at the State Department, presided over by the Secretary of State, the Honorees are introduced and the Honors medallions are presented by the Chairman of the Board. The wide rainbow - colored ribbon then hung around the necks of the recipients, and prominently noticeable when the events are televised, symbolizes `` a spectrum of many skills within the performing arts '' according to creator Ivan Chermayeff. On Sunday, there is an early - evening White House reception hosted by the President of the United States and the First Lady, followed by the Honors gala performance at the Kennedy Center and supper. For the 2015 gala performance, President Barack Obama did attend, after addressing the nation in a live telecast. There have been three occasions where the President did not attend the gala performances : President Jimmy Carter did not attend the December 1979 gala performance during the hostage crisis, President George H.W. Bush did not attend in December 1989 and President Bill Clinton did not attend in 1994. On August 19, 2017, the White House announced that President Donald Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, have decided not to participate in events honoring recipients of this year 's Kennedy Center Honors arts awards to `` allow the honorees to celebrate without any political distraction. '' Recipients 2005 Kennedy Center Honorees Julie Harris, Robert Redford, Tina Turner, Suzanne Farrell, and Tony Bennett, with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, in the Blue Room at the White House, December 4, 2005. The surviving members of Led Zeppelin were honored in 2012 and are pictured here with President Barack Obama. There have been 200 recipients to date of the Kennedy Center Honors Awards during the Honor 's 39 years. The vast majority have been bestowed on individuals. On ten occasions since 1985, awards have been presented to duos or groups, including three married couples : lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, actors Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, musical - comedy duo Betty Comden and Adolph Green, dancers Fayard Nicholas and Harold Nicholas, actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb, actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, musicians Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who and the members of Led Zeppelin and Eagles. 1970s 1978 -- Marian Anderson, Fred Astaire, George Balanchine, Richard Rodgers, and Arthur Rubinstein 1979 -- Aaron Copland, Ella Fitzgerald, Henry Fonda, Martha Graham, and Tennessee Williams 1980s 1980 -- Leonard Bernstein, James Cagney, Agnes de Mille, Lynn Fontanne, and Leontyne Price 1981 -- Count Basie, Cary Grant, Helen Hayes, Jerome Robbins, and Rudolf Serkin 1982 -- George Abbott, Lillian Gish, Benny Goodman, Gene Kelly, and Eugene Ormandy 1983 -- Katherine Dunham, Elia Kazan, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, and Virgil Thomson 1984 -- Lena Horne, Danny Kaye, Gian Carlo Menotti, Arthur Miller, and Isaac Stern 1985 -- Merce Cunningham, Irene Dunne, Bob Hope, Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe, and Beverly Sills 1986 -- Lucille Ball, Ray Charles, Hume Cronyn & Jessica Tandy, Yehudi Menuhin, and Antony Tudor 1987 -- Perry Como, Bette Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Nathan Milstein, and Alwin Nikolais 1988 -- Alvin Ailey, George Burns, Myrna Loy, Alexander Schneider, and Roger L. Stevens 1989 -- Harry Belafonte, Claudette Colbert, Alexandra Danilova, Mary Martin, and William Schuman 1990s 1990 -- Dizzy Gillespie, Katharine Hepburn, Risë Stevens, Jule Styne, and Billy Wilder 1991 -- Roy Acuff, Betty Comden & Adolph Green, Fayard & Harold Nicholas, Gregory Peck, and Robert Shaw 1992 -- Lionel Hampton, Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward, Ginger Rogers, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Paul Taylor 1993 -- Johnny Carson, Arthur Mitchell, Georg Solti, Stephen Sondheim, and Marion Williams 1994 -- Kirk Douglas, Aretha Franklin, Morton Gould, Harold Prince, and Pete Seeger 1995 -- Jacques d'Amboise, Marilyn Horne, B.B. King, Sidney Poitier, and Neil Simon 1996 -- Edward Albee, Benny Carter, Johnny Cash, Jack Lemmon, and Maria Tallchief 1997 -- Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, Charlton Heston, Jessye Norman, and Edward Villella 1998 -- Bill Cosby, Fred Ebb & John Kander, Willie Nelson, André Previn, and Shirley Temple Black 1999 -- Victor Borge, Sean Connery, Judith Jamison, Jason Robards, and Stevie Wonder 2000s Kennedy Center honorees 2009 Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro, and Bruce Springsteen, with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in the Blue Room, White House, Dec. 6, 2009. 2000 -- Mikhail Baryshnikov, Chuck Berry, Plácido Domingo, Clint Eastwood, and Angela Lansbury 2001 -- Julie Andrews, Van Cliburn, Quincy Jones, Jack Nicholson, and Luciano Pavarotti 2002 -- James Earl Jones, James Levine, Chita Rivera, Paul Simon, and Elizabeth Taylor 2003 -- James Brown, Carol Burnett, Loretta Lynn, Mike Nichols, and Itzhak Perlman 2004 -- Warren Beatty, Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee, Elton John, Joan Sutherland, and John Williams 2005 -- Tony Bennett, Suzanne Farrell, Julie Harris, Robert Redford, and Tina Turner 2006 -- Zubin Mehta, Dolly Parton, Smokey Robinson, Steven Spielberg, and Andrew Lloyd Webber 2007 -- Leon Fleisher, Steve Martin, Diana Ross, Martin Scorsese, and Brian Wilson 2008 -- Morgan Freeman, George Jones, Barbra Streisand, Twyla Tharp, and The Who ( Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey ) 2009 -- Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro, and Bruce Springsteen 2010s 2010 -- Merle Haggard, Jerry Herman, Bill T. Jones, Paul McCartney, and Oprah Winfrey 2011 -- Barbara Cook, Neil Diamond, Yo - Yo Ma, Sonny Rollins, and Meryl Streep 2012 -- Buddy Guy, Dustin Hoffman, Led Zeppelin ( John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant ), David Letterman, and Natalia Makarova 2013 -- Martina Arroyo, Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel, Shirley MacLaine, and Carlos Santana 2014 -- Al Green, Tom Hanks, Patricia McBride, Sting, and Lily Tomlin 2015 -- Carole King, George Lucas, Rita Moreno, Seiji Ozawa, and Cicely Tyson 2016 -- Martha Argerich, Eagles ( Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit and Joe Walsh, with Glenn Frey ), Al Pacino, Mavis Staples, and James Taylor 2017 -- Carmen de Lavallade, Gloria Estefan, LL Cool J, Norman Lear, and Lionel Richie Prospective honorees who declined, canceled, or postponed Pianist Vladimir Horowitz was to be an honoree, but the selection committee withdrew the offer when Horowitz conditioned his acceptance on being honored alone and at 4 in the afternoon. Actress Katharine Hepburn declined the committee 's first offer, though she relented in 1990. Doris Day repeatedly turned down the honors because her fear of flying prevented her from attending the ceremony. When considering Irving Berlin for the 1987 awards because of criticism for overlooking him, the Center was informed that Berlin wanted to be honored only if he surpassed his 100th birthday ( which would not be until May 1988 ). Also, he was in failing health, being confined to a wheelchair following a series of strokes, and could not attend a public event. The Center instead chose to pay special tribute to him at the 1987 Gala. He died in 1989. Paul McCartney was selected as an honoree in 2002, but was unable to attend because of an `` inescapable personal obligation, '' his cousin 's previously planned wedding. After initially saying that McCartney 's award would be postponed until the following year, the Kennedy Center announced in August 2003 that `` Paul McCartney will not be receiving a Kennedy Center Honor. '' McCartney later became a 2010 honoree. Mel Brooks has stated that he refused the honor when George W. Bush was in office, due to his distaste for Bush 's Iraq policy, but Brooks was an honoree in 2009, the first year Barack Obama was President. In November 2015, one month before the actual ceremony, the Eagles postponed their honors until the following year because Glenn Frey had intestinal problems that required major surgery and a long recovery period. Despite their absence, they were still honored in 2015 via a performance of `` Desperado '' by country singer Miranda Lambert. Glenn Frey died on January 18, 2016, though the Center made him and the three surviving members a 2016 honoree. In 2017 Norman Lear announced that he would accept the honors, but would boycott the White House ceremony because of his opposition to President Donald Trump, citing Trump 's proposal to end the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. Now that President Trump has announced he is no longer participating in the ceremony, Lear has yet to indicate whether or not he will attend. See also Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the Kennedy Center 's award for contributions to American humor References Jump up ^ `` About the Honors '' Kennedy Center. Accessed October 4, 2015. Jump up ^ Harris, Paul. `` George Stevens Jr. to End 37 - Year Run as Kennedy Center Honors Producer '' Variety, December 7, 2014 Jump up ^ Crews, Chip. `` The Honors, Take 2 '' Washington Post, December 27, 2005 Jump up ^ Shales, Tom. `` Crowning America 's Culture Superstars '', The Washington Post, September 28, 1978, p. B1 Jump up ^ McGlone, Peggy. `` Stephen Colbert will host 37th annual Kennedy Center Honors '' Washington Post, November 19, 2014 Jump up ^ `` Tony Awards Team Chosen '' Washington Post, May 5, 2015 Jump up ^ Honors kennedy-center.org ^ Jump up to : Press Release '' kennedy-center.org Jump up ^ Interview in The Washington Post 2008 - 12 - 07 Jump up ^ `` A Vision in Blue ''. Mrs. O. 2011 - 12 - 04. Retrieved 2015 - 12 - 30. Jump up ^ McGlone, Peggy. `` President Obama will be late to Kennedy Center Honors performance '' Washington Post, December 6, 2015 Jump up ^ Gamarekian, Barbara. `` Kennedy Center Honors Five For Life ) Achievements in Arts : Audience of Over 2,000 ' She Led a Revolt ' White House Reception '', The New York Times, December 3, 1979, p. C14. `` Mrs. Carter : ' As you know President Carter has had to cancel his public appearances. ' '' Jump up ^ McGlone, Peggy. `` President Obama to skip Kennedy Center Honors performance '' Washington Post, December 6, 2015 Jump up ^ Pareles, John. `` Performers Receive Kennedy Center Awards '' Sun Sentinel, December 25, 1994 Jump up ^ `` Trump to skip Kennedy Center arts award. '' Washington Post, August 19, 2017 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-to-skip-kennedy-center-arts-awards/2017/08/19/621e7a5c-84d6-11e7-9e7a-20fa8d7a0db6_story.html Jump up ^ `` Barbara Cook, Neil Diamond, Yo - Yo Ma, Sonny Rollins & Meryl Streep to Receive 34th Annual Kennedy Center Honors '' kennedy-center.org, accessed September 6, 2011 Jump up ^ Gans, Andrew. `` Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, Natalia Makarova, Buddy Guy, Led Zeppelin Are Kennedy Center Honorees '' Archived 2012 - 11 - 09 at the Wayback Machine. playbill.com, September 12, 2012 Jump up ^ Gans, Andrew. `` Martina Arroyo, Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel, Shirley MacLaine and Carlos Santana Are 2013 Kennedy Center Honorees '' playbill.com, September 12, 2013 Jump up ^ Harris, Paul ( 2014 - 09 - 04 ). `` Tom Hanks, Lily Tomlin, Sting to Receive Kennedy Center Honors ''. Variety. Retrieved 2014 - 09 - 04. Jump up ^ Viagas, Robert. `` Carole King, Cicely Tyson, Rita Moreno and More Named 2015 Kennedy Center Honorees '' playbill.com, July 15, 2015 ^ Jump up to : `` Martha Argerich, Eagles, Al Pacino, Mavis Staples, James Taylor To Receive 39th Annual Kennedy Center Honors '' ( PDF ) ( Press release ). Kennedy Center Honors. June 23, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016. ^ Jump up to : Clark, Cindy. `` Kennedy Center postpones Honors to Eagles '' USAToday, November 4, 2015 Jump up ^ Hipes, Patrick. `` Kennedy Center Honors : Al Pacino, Eagles, James Taylor & More '' Deadline, June 23, 2016 ^ Jump up to : Crews, Chip. `` The Honors, Take 2 '' The Washington Post, December 27, 2005 Jump up ^ Pollock, Allen. `` About Doris '' www.dorisday.com Jump up ^ Molotsky, Irvin. `` Five Receive Kennedy Center Honors for Artistic Contributions '' The New York Times, December 7, 1987 Jump up ^ `` The Kennedy Center Honors : This Year 's Bid for Glamour '' The New York Times, August 6, 2003 Jump up ^ Trescott, Jacqueline. `` Oprah Winfrey among five recipients of 2010 Kennedy Center Honors '' The Washington Post, September 7, 2010 Jump up ^ http://www.vulture.com/2012/11/mel-brooks-interview.html Jump up ^ http://www.npr.org/2013/05/20/182609040/mel-brooks-i-m-an-egot-so-i-don-t-need-any-more Jump up ^ Morton, Victor ( January 18, 2016 ). `` Glenn Frey, Eagles guitarist, dies at 67 ''. The Washington Times. Retrieved January 18, 2016. Jump up ^ http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/05/541812555/norman-lear-kennedy-center-honoree-to-skip-white-house-reception-in-protest External links Official website `` Collection Kennedy Center Honors '' The Paley Center for Media Kennedy Center Honorees 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Series 1951 -- 1975 The Alan Young Show ( 1951 ) Your Show of Shows ( 1952 ) Your Show of Shows ( 1953 ) Omnibus ( 1954 ) Disneyland ( 1955 ) The Ed Sullivan Show / Your Hit Parade ( 1956 ) Caesar 's Hour ( 1957 ) The Dinah Shore Chevy Show ( 1958 ) The Dinah Shore Chevy Show ( 1959 ) The Fabulous Fifties ( 1960 ) Astaire Time ( 1961 ) The Garry Moore Show ( 1962 ) The Andy Williams Show ( 1963 ) The Danny Kaye Show ( 1964 ) The Andy Williams Show ( 1966 ) The Andy Williams Show ( 1967 ) Rowan & Martin 's Laugh - In ( 1968 ) Rowan & Martin 's Laugh - In ( 1969 ) The David Frost Show ( 1970 ) The Flip Wilson Show / The David Frost Show ( 1971 ) The Carol Burnett Show / The Dick Cavett Show ( 1972 ) The Julie Andrews Hour ( 1973 ) The Carol Burnett Show ( 1974 ) The Carol Burnett Show ( 1975 ) 1976 -- 2000 Saturday Night Live ( 1976 ) Van Dyke and Company ( 1977 ) The Muppet Show ( 1978 ) Steve & Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin ( 1979 ) Baryshnikov on Broadway ( 1980 ) Lily : Sold Out ( 1981 ) Night of 100 Stars ( 1982 ) Motown 25 : Yesterday, Today, Forever ( 1983 ) A Celebration of the Performing Arts ( 1984 ) Motown Returns to the Apollo ( 1985 ) A Celebration of the Performing Arts ( 1986 ) 41st Tony Awards ( 1987 ) Irving Berlin 's 100th Birthday Celebration ( 1988 ) The Tracey Ullman Show ( 1989 ) In Living Color ( 1990 ) 63rd Academy Awards ( 1991 ) The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ( 1992 ) Saturday Night Live ( 1993 ) Late Show with David Letterman ( 1994 ) The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ( 1995 ) Dennis Miller Live ( 1996 ) Tracey Takes On... ( 1997 ) Late Show with David Letterman ( 1998 ) Late Show with David Letterman ( 1999 ) Late Show with David Letterman ( 2000 ) 2001 -- 2014 Late Show with David Letterman ( 2001 ) Late Show with David Letterman ( 2002 ) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ( 2003 ) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ( 2004 ) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ( 2005 ) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ( 2006 ) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ( 2007 ) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ( 2008 ) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ( 2009 ) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ( 2010 ) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ( 2011 ) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ( 2012 ) The Colbert Report ( 2013 ) The Colbert Report ( 2014 ) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special 1959 -- 1975 An Evening with Fred Astaire ( 1959 ) Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic ( 1960 ) Not awarded ( 1961 ) Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in Japan ( 1962 ) Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall ( 1963 ) The Bell Telephone Hour ( 1964 ) Not awarded ( 1965 ) Chrysler Presents the Bob Hope Christmas Special / Frank Sinatra : A Man and His Music ( 1966 ) The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Morris Special ( 1967 ) Rowan & Martin 's Laugh - In ( 1968 ) The Bill Cosby Special ( 1969 ) Annie, the Women in the Life of a Man / Cinderella, National Ballet of Canada ( 1970 ) Singer Presents Burt Bacharach / Leopold Stokowski, N.E.T. Festival ( 1971 ) Jack Lemmon in ' S Wonderful, ' S Marvelous, ' S Gershwin / Beethoven 's Birthday : A Celebration in Vienna with Leonard Bernstein ( 1972 ) Singer Presents Liza with a Z ( 1973 ) Lily ( 1974 ) An Evening with John Denver ( 1975 ) 1976 -- 2000 Gypsy in My Soul ( 1976 ) The Barry Manilow Special ( 1977 ) Bette Midler : Ol ' Red Hair is Back ( 1978 ) Not awarded ( 1979 - 1989 ) Sammy Davis, Jr. 's 60th Anniversary Celebration ( 1990 ) Not awarded ( 1991 ) Cirque Du Soleil : Nouvelle Expérience ( 1992 ) Bob Hope : The First 90 Years ( 1993 ) Kennedy Center Honors ( 1994 ) Barbra Streisand : The Concert ( 1995 ) Kennedy Center Honors ( 1996 ) Chris Rock : Bring the Pain ( 1997 ) 52nd Tony Awards ( 1998 ) 53rd Tony Awards ( 1999 ) Saturday Night Live : The 25th Anniversary Special ( 2000 ) 2001 -- present Cirque Du Soleil 's Dralion ( 2001 ) America : A Tribute to Heroes ( 2002 ) Cher : The Farewell Tour ( 2003 ) Elaine Stritch : At Liberty ( 2004 ) 58th Tony Awards ( 2005 ) The XX Olympic Winter Games : Opening Ceremony ( 2006 ) Tony Bennett : An American Classic ( 2007 ) Mr. Warmth : The Don Rickles Project ( 2008 ) Kennedy Center Honors ( 2009 ) Kennedy Center Honors ( 2010 ) Kennedy Center Honors ( 2011 ) Kennedy Center Honors ( 2012 ) Kennedy Center Honors ( 2013 ) AFI Life Achievement Award : A Tribute to Mel Brooks ( 2014 ) Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special ( 2015 ) The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special ( 2016 ) Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special 2017 ( 2017 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kennedy_Center_Honors&oldid=808547214 '' Categories : Arts awards in the United States Awards established in 1978 Lists of award winners Culture of Washington, D.C. Kennedy Center honorees Lifetime achievement awards Christmas television specials Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Series winners 1978 establishments in Washington, D.C. Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Deutsch Español Euskara فارسی Français Italiano עברית Nederlands 日本 語 Português Simple English Slovenščina Suomi Türkçe 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 3 November 2017, at 14 : 45. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who is being honored at the kennedy center honors
Answer: Carmen de Lavallade