On July 18 the Kennedy Center released the name of the 2024 class of Kennedy Center Honors. This year’s honourees include legends of film, jazz, blues, and rock. But they also include first ever cultural icon to be awarded a KCH.
Film legend Francis. Ford Coppola, jazz master Arturo Sandoval, Blues icon Bonnie Raitt, pioneering rockers The Grateful Dead, and the iconic Apollo Theatre in Harlem will all be honoured in December. And while there is no single representative from the world of dance this year; many an artist began their dancing…and singing…careers on the stage at the iconic Theatre.
Along with the tribute performances on the Kennedy Center stage December 8; the honourees will attend a gala dinner at the White House. Portions of the 47th annual event will be broadcast in a two-hour special on CBS December 23.
Finally an honouree herself, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bonnie Raitt is no stranger to the Kenedy Center Honors. She joined her Broadway performer father when he performed on the stage at the Kennedy Center as part of the tribute for Richard Rogers. And Raitt herself joined the celebrities on the Kennedy Center stage to honour Mavis Staples and Buddy Guy.
What started out as a band in 1960’s San Francisco, The Grateful Dead revolutionized the rock band tour. While their music was never a staple at the top of the music charts, The Dead had a following that has seldom been seen since with fans literally following the band from city to city. The parking lots of venues were filled with fans hawking various wares…including bootleg tapes…in-order to make enough money to travel to the next city. It became a mark of loyalty and love for the band when a fan could brag about the number of concerts they had attended. The Dead had fans who could boast of triple digit attendance. After the death of founding member Jerry Garcia in 1995, the band has continued in a variety of formats. The are currently at The Sphere for an extended residency as Dead and Company with John Mayer as the band’s lead.
Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola is known for some of the biggest classics in Hollywood including “The Godfather” franchise and “Apocalypse Now”. Like Bonnie Raitt, Coppola has been a part of the KCH before when he helped to pay tribute to fellow filmmaker Martin Scorsese.
Coppola spoke on his being a part of the 2024 class saying, “I’ve been eligible for the past 20 years, so the fact that I never received it made me feel that maybe I never would. I just assumed I wasn’t going to win it, so to hear that I was chosen was a surprise and a delight.”
A multi instrumentalist, Arturo Sandoval got his musical start in his native Cuba. While he played the piano and percussion; Sandoval chose to focus on the trumpet.
It was a fellow trumpet player who helped Sandoval escape Cuba in 1990 while on tour in Europe. Dizzy Gillespie aided Sandoval and when Gillespie became a KCH, Arturo Sandoval was among the artists to pay tribute with a performance.
the first of its kind, the Kennedy Center has chosen to honour the Apollo Theater. A part of Harlem for nearly 100 years, The Apollo has hosted artists from across the board; from those who were just getting started to some of the biggest names in music including Billie Holiday, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, Drake, and Lauren Hill. Currently the Apollo has moved temporarily while the original theater undergoes some renovations.
According to the Kennedy Center, “the Kennedy Center Honors recognizes artists who have made an extraordinary impact on the cultural life of our nation and continue to have an immeasurable influence on new generations.”
Kennedy Center president Deborah F. Rutter spoke on this year’s recipients saying, “our Honorees this year have each played an invaluable, pioneering role in developing American culture—not with one act of art but with their decades-long devotion to pushing creative boundaries.”