WASHINGTON — Celebrities, cultural icons and a few surprise guests have gathered for the annual Kennedy Center Honors celebration in Washington on Sunday night.
This year's recipients of the lifetime achievement award for artistic accomplishment are director Francis Ford Coppola, the Grateful Dead, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt. In addition, the venerable Harlem theater The Apollo, which has launched generations of Black artists, is being recognized.
The choice to honor The Apollo is an unusual one — the first time the Kennedy Center has chosen to honor a specific performance venue.
“The Apollo means so much to so many of us," Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said while arriving on the red carpet. Moore pointed out iconic Apollo performances from Lauryn Hill and a young Michael Jackson as treasured memories of his youth.
The annual gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts features personalized tributes with performances and testimonials from fellow artists. Medallions were presented during the traditional Saturday night ceremony at the State Department.
The tribute to The Apollo highlighted the sheer diversity of art forms showcased at the 90-year-old theater. Savion Glover did a spirited tap dance routine; husband and wife duo The War and Treaty performed a medley of hits by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell; and comedian Dave Chappelle recounted his terrifying first Apollo performance at age 15.
“Everybody started booing. It was like I was outside my body watching,” he said. Eventually Chappelle was rushed off the stage by the theater's infamous “Sandman,” but he credited the experience with helping him overcome his fear of bombing.
Music star Sheryl Crow paid tribute to Raitt's trailblazing career as not just a singer or songwriter but as a widely respected blues guitarist in a male-dominated field.
“I would not be doing what I'm doing if I had not seen her perform as a 17-year old,” said Crow, who bought her first guitar shortly after seeing Raitt in concert.
Raitt herself predicted an emotional evening.
“I've brought a massive box of Kleenex and my waterproof eye liner,” she laughed.
Sandoval's tribute featured multiple performances from an all-star band featuring Trombone Shorty and pianist Chucho Valdez from Sandoval's original band, plus a flamenco dance performance by Timo Nunez. It also included a bit of light roast comedy from actor Andy Garcia.
“Arturo spoke very little English when he first came to America from Cuba all those years ago,” Garcia said. “But now his English ... is much worse.”
In the first of the night's tributes, Emmylou Harris and Dave Matthews performed a cover of Raitt's duet with the late John Prine, “Angel from Montgomery.”
The tribute performances are often kept secret from the recipients themselves, most notably in 2018 when Cyndi Lauper flat out lied to her longtime friend Cher about being unable to attend. Lauper appeared on stage to perform Cher's hit, “If I Could Turn Back Time.”
At a ceremony at the White House before attending the awards event itself, President Joe Biden praised each honoree. He also had an audience member, actor Robert De Niro, stand before declaring, “If I get in trouble, I’m coming to you pal.”
De Niro grinned and nodded and others in attendance, including the honorees, laughed at what appeared to be a reference to De Niro sometimes playing hardnosed enforcers in movies like “The Godfather.” But Biden actually meant he might seek the actor’s help for post-presidency career advice.
“Things are not looking good for February,” Biden joked. Then he conceded that he couldn’t sing or dance but suggested he might still find a way to help De Niro’s production company.
This could also be the last Kennedy Center Honors ceremony without political intrigue for a while.
During Donald Trump's first four years in office, Kennedy Center officials were forced to walk a public tightrope between the tradition of the president attending the ceremony and the open antipathy toward Trump from multiple honorees. In 2017, recipient Norman Lear threatened to boycott his own ceremony if Trump attended. Trump, who takes office in January, skipped the ceremony for the entirety of his first term.
On the red carpet Sunday night, multiple Democratic political figures seemed to offer an olive branch.
“I hope he does come,” Moore said. "This is a wonderful celebration of genius in all its forms."
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi added, “I think he would really enjoy it.”
The awards show will air on CBS on Dec. 22.
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Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed to this report.
