Coppola, The Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt Lead 2024 Kennedy Center Honors

The Kennedy Center will honor Francis Ford Coppola, The Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, Arturo Sandoval, and The Apollo Theater with its lifetime artistic achievement award. This was announced on “CBS Mornings” on Thursday.

The distinguished recipients will be celebrated at the Kennedy Center’s annual national celebration of the arts, held in Washington D.C. The ceremony will be televised on Dec. 23 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and will also be available for streaming on Paramount+. Subscribers to Paramount+ with Showtime can watch the 47th Annual Kennedy Center Honors live and on demand. Paramount+ Essential subscribers can view the ceremony on-demand the day after it airs.

Among this year’s honorees, Francis Ford Coppola stands out with an impressive array of accolades, including five Academy Awards, six Golden Globes, two Palmes d’Or, and a British Academy Film Award. He is celebrated for directing classics like “The Godfather,” “The Godfather Part II,” “Apocalypse Now,” “The Outsiders,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” and the recently released “Megalopolis.”

The Grateful Dead will be honored posthumously, including living members Mickey Hart, Billy Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir. Despite the passing of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, the band is revered as the pioneers of the jamband genre. Their continuous touring has ranked them among the highest-grossing American live acts ever. Earlier this year, they set a record for the most Top 40 albums on the Billboard 200, despite disbanding in 1995.

Bonnie Raitt, a blues-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, has earned 13 Grammy Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her influential album “Nick of Time” has been preserved by the Library of Congress in the United States National Recording Registry. Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Arturo Sandoval, a composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his prowess on the piano, trumpet, and timbales, is another honoree. Throughout his career, Sandoval has garnered 10 Grammy Awards and an Emmy. He has also performed at the White House and the Super Bowl in 1995.

The Apollo Theater will receive a special Kennedy Center Honors distinction as an iconic American institution. Located in Harlem, New York City, the renowned venue has hosted numerous Black performers and is famously home to the TV series “Showtime at the Apollo.” The Apollo Theater holds the designation of a New York City landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is currently operated by the nonprofit Apollo Theater Foundation.

Over several decades, the Kennedy Center Honors have celebrated individuals for their unique artistic contributions that have “shaped the way we see ourselves, each other, and our world,” according to a press release for the event. Honorees are not categorized but are confirmed by the executive committee of the Center’s board of trustees.

For the third consecutive year, the 47th Annual Kennedy Center Honors will be produced by Done+Dusted in association with ROK Productions. The executive producers for the event are David Jammy, Elizabeth Kelly, and Jack Sussman, with Alex Rudzinski directing the show.

Source: CBS