Those behind this year’s Kennedy Center Honors have found what they’re looking for in Irish rockers U2 and four other artists.
The band will join actor and filmmaker George Clooney, soul and R&B singer Gladys Knight, Christian pop artist Amy Grant and the Cuban-born American composer Tania Leon this December in being honored at the annual celebration, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Thursday.
Now in its 45 year, the event toasts honorees for their contributions to American culture through various performing arts, from music, dance, theater and opera to film and TV.
“One of most influential rock bands of the modern rock era, U2 won over America and the world long ago with their iconic anthems, potent lyrics and powerful messages of social justice and global citizenship — earning a musical legacy that crosses generations, inspires and unites,” Kennedy Center chairman David M. Rubenstein said of the band made up of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.
The group is known for hits from “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” to “With or Without You.”
The five honorees will be celebrated on Dec. 4 at a celebrity-packed event at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. The show will be recorded and air at a later date as a two-hour prime-time special on CBS and also stream live and on demand on Paramount+.
Clooney, famous for flicks like “Out of Sight,” “Three Kings” and “The Perfect Storm,” is the only actor being recognized this year.
“Whether saving humanity, masterminding a heist or captaining a ship in dangerous seas, actor George Clooney’s unique brand of earnest charisma and his complete embodiment of a character has led us to root for him every time,” Rubenstein said.
Clooney said in a statement, “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.”
Knight, who belted out hits like “Midnight Train to Georgia” with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, will also be honored.
“In her 55-year music career, legendary singer and America’s beloved ‘Empress of Soul’ Gladys Knight went from the Pips of Georgia to Grammy royalty, showcasing a boundless vocal range and soulfulness that has stood the test of time,” Rubenstein said.
Grant is best known for the 1991 pop song “Baby Baby.”
“Multiplatinum singer-songwriter Amy Grant became the first artist to bring contemporary Christian music to the forefront of American culture, then equally thrived after crossing over into mainstream pop with hit after hit,” said Rubenstein.
The Kennedy Center chairman praised Leon as “a brave, young Cuban refugee-turned-Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and music ambassador,” adding that she’s “blessed America for more than five decades with her astoundingly original compositions and continues to be a major influence on classical music.”
Those being celebrated at the event are recommended by former honorees, members of the arts community, the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees and the public. The list is then confirmed by the executive committee of the board of trustees.
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