Who are the Kennedy Center honorees for 2022?
The 45th annual Kennedy Center Honors have been annouced. Who are they and when will the event take place?
The Kennedy Center will honor several celebrities who have contributed in profound ways to American culture for the forty-fifth year this December.
Those set to receive the award include:
- George Clooney, actor and filmmaker
- Amy Grant, contemporary Christian and pop singer
- Gladys Knight, venerable gospel, soul and R&B singer
- Tania León, award winning composer, conductor, and educator
- U2 band members, Bono, David Howell Evans, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr.
The awards ceremony began five years after the Kennedy Center was founded in 1972.
Clooney was surprised to be nominated saying “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 said that she was “humbled beyond words to be included amongst this prestigious group of individuals, both past and present.”
Kennedy Center President, Deborah F. Rutter, said that the Honors are 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.” Unlike other awards that are divided by industry, the Honors, provide a “holistic viewpoint, [and] each year’s Honorees add another layer to the complex and inspiring collage of artists that together tell the story of our collective contribution to global culture.”
When will the award ceremony take place?
This year’s ceremony will take place on Sunday December 4, 2022 in Washington DC at the Kennedy Center. Getting a ticket to the event is no easy feat. Tickets are first offered to Kennedy Center donors and as a major fundraiser people pay thousands to attend.
Those looking to tune in from home will be able to do so as the event will be televised by CBS.
Who won last year?
The winners of the award from last year include Joni Mitchell, Berry Gordy, Bette Midler, Justino Diaz, and Lorne Michaels.