The president customarily hosts the Kennedy Center honorees astatine the White House earlier the authoritative ceremonial astatine the Kennedy Center.
Speaking astatine the White House, Biden said Sunday’s events gave him the accidental to physique connected the “We the People” themes from past week’s National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and the State Dinner with President Emmanuel Macron of France.
This year’s people of honorees, the 45th annual, consisted of actor-filmmaker George Clooney, singers Amy Grant (known for modern Christian music) and Gladys Knight (known for R&B music) and composer Tania León, arsenic good arsenic the 4 members of the Irish stone set U2.
“Thank you for showing america the powerfulness of the arts and ‘We the People,’” Biden said.
Among different things, Biden praised Clooney for his activism and foundation enactment — aft jokingly referring him to arsenic “Amal Clooney’s husband” — and saluted the different 4 honorees for their contributions to the world’s music, quoting from the lyrics of Knight’s “Midnight Train to Georgia” and U2’s “One.”
“As the opus goes, ‘We’re one, but we’re not the same, We get to transportation each other,’” Biden said successful quoting U2.
U2 was lone the 5th set to beryllium truthful honored, joining The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, and Earth, Wind & Fire. Amid the ceremonial garb of the honorees, The Edge — the band’s guitarist who was calved David Howell Evans — stood retired by wearing his customary knit cap.
Among those who were besides seen successful attendance for portion oregon each of the day’s festivities were Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. and Anthony Fauci, the soon-to-be-retired Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
One of the astir prestigious grant ceremonies successful the amusement industry, the Kennedy Center Honors began successful 1978 with an archetypal people of opera-spiritual vocalist Marian Anderson, actor-dancer Fred Astaire, choreographer George Balanchine, composer Richard Rodgers and pianist Arthur Rubinstein. The archetypal people of Biden’s presidency consisted of opera vocalist Justino Díaz, euphony entrepreneur Berry Gordy, TV shaper Lorne Michaels, actress-singer Bette Midler and singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.
An edited mentation of the evening information of the Kennedy Center Honors is scheduled to aerial successful precocious December connected CBS and the Paramount + streaming service.
English (US)