Paul Anka, David Foster & Barbara Mandrell Are Among 2026 Kennedy Center Honorees: Complete List
Categoria: Musica
The 49th annual event will be held in December at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C.
Por Billboard | 02/11/2026
Paul Anka , David Foster , Andy Garcia, David Mamet and Barbara Mandrell are the 2026 Kennedy Center Honorees. Three of the five honorees were born outside of the U.S. Anka and Foster were both born in Canada; Garcia was born in Cuba. This year’s honorees range in age from Garcia, 70, to Anka, 85. Unlike last year, when President Donald Trump personally announced the five honorees at a live press event, this year’s selections were announced in the traditional way, in a press release, which included a quote from Trump: “We are recognizing amazing artists whose lifelong work has shaped American culture and inspired generations of audiences,” he said. “We are proud to honor this year’s class and to continue a tradition that has defined the Center for nearly 50 years.” Related Kennedy Center Honors 2026 Moving Forward — But Not at the Embattled Venue This year’s honorees were chosen based on the recommendation of the Kennedy Center’s special honors advisory committee, whose members include former honorees, artists and members of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, under the leadership of Trump, as its chairman. The Kennedy Center announcement did not announce the program’s broadcast partner for 2026. CBS has broadcast the Kennedy Center Honors every year since they were first presented in 1978 through 2025. The Kennedy Center announcement did indicate that Boeing is the exclusive underwriter of the Kennedy Center Honors Gala. Delta Air Lines is the official airline; Tiffany & Co. is the official medallion partner. The 2025 honorees, which, Trump boasted, he played a large role in selecting, were country icon George Strait , theatrical rock veterans KISS , Broadway star Michael Crawford, disco star Gloria Gaynor and actor-director Sylvester Stallone . ( Tom Cruise reportedly declined the honor last year, due to “scheduling conflicts.”) By way of comparison, the 2024 honorees, the last class to receive the honors under President Joe Biden , were filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, iconic rock band Grateful Dead , singer-songwriter-guitarist Bonnie Raitt , jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and The Apollo Theater in Harlem, the first venue to receive the honor. Monday’s announcement of the 2026 Kennedy Center Honorees is coming much later in the year than last year’s announcement, which was made on Aug. 13, 2025. The 49th annual Kennedy Center Honors will be held on Dec. 7 — the same date as last year’s event — but at a new and much larger venue. The honors have been held in the 2,347-capacity Opera House of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts since 1978, when they were first presented, but will move to Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C., for this year’s event. The awards will continue to be called the Kennedy Center Honors, with President Trump’s name not appearing. The names of both the venue and the awards have been a source of considerable tension in the past year. The Kennedy Center opened in