George Clooney, U2, Gladys Knight among next Kennedy Center honorees

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[size=46]George Clooney, U2, Gladys Knight among next Kennedy Center honorees[/size]

The 45th annual celebration of the performing arts will also salute Amy Grant and Tania León on Dec. 4 at the national arts center in Washington

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


By Peggy McGlone


July 21, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. EDT[size=16]The Irish rock group U2, actor-filmmaker George Clooney, singers Gladys Knight and Amy Grant, and composer-conductor Tania León will be saluted for their achievements in the arts at the 45th annual Kennedy Center Honors Dec. 4 at the national arts center.

The Sunday night performance is the centerpiece of a weekend that includes a private dinner when the distinctive rainbow medals are presented, and a fundraising gala for thousands following the Opera House show. The production — with its top-secret lineup of guests — will be broadcast later on CBS.
The 2022 honorees represent the best of the entertainment world, said Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter, but they have also used their talents to inspire change.
“In each case, these are artists who are doing more than being performers. They are artists as citizens who are giving back and making the world a better place through art,” Rutter said, citing the philanthropic, humanitarian and educational contributions made by each. “It’s about art for life’s sake. These artists are a mirror to who we are.”


[/size][size]
Knight’s selection wins this year’s “What took you so long?” category, a perennial question for the selection committee, Rutter said.



[/size][size]



“There are a lot of people on the ‘What took so long?’ list. That’s why this is so hard. There are so many deserving artists,” Rutter said.
Inside the making of the covid Kennedy Center Honors
Knight, 78, performed a knockout rendition of the Garth Brooks song, “We Shall Be Free” as part of last year’s Honors tribute to the country singer.
“I had loads of fun at that performance. I was so excited that they thought about making me a part of that,” Knight said by phone Wednesday. She expressed gratitude for being among the latest slate of honorees, especially one so rich in music.
“I like all kinds of music, to be honest. Country and gospel have always been the two that I go to,” said Knight, who headlined a 2002 benefit at the Kennedy Center for the American Diabetes Association, one of the charities she supports.

Born in Georgia, Knight started singing in her Baptist church’s youth choir when she was 4 years old. She was still a child when she won the grand prize on Ted Mack’s “Amateur Hour” show and 16 when she and her brother Bubba, sister Brenda and two cousins released their first record as the Pips. Two years later, the group became Gladys Knight and the Pips.




The Empress of Soul has released 38 records and won seven Grammy Awards over a career that is in its seventh decade. Among her best-known hits are “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “If I Were Your Woman” and “Midnight Train to Georgia.” She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
The Honors caused her to remember her amazing journey in music and the contributions of her late mother, Knight said.

“She chose all or most of the music I was doing,” she said. “And my mom could sing, too. She would get right in there, as we rehearsed. She listened to every little thing.”
Watch highlights of the 43rd annual Kennedy Center Honors


[/size][size]
U2 members Bono (Paul David Hewson), the Edge (David Howell Evans), Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. met as teenagers and have been performing together since 1976. Known worldwide for its popular stadium tours, the group has released 14 studio albums and won 22 Grammys. U2 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. It has supported human rights efforts around the world and contributed to campaigns fighting AIDS, poverty and cancer.




The band first performed in the United States in 1980.
“We had big dreams then, fueled in part by the commonly held belief at home that America smiles on Ireland,” the band members said in a statement released by the arts center. “But even in the wilder thoughts, we never imagined that 40 years on, we would be invited back to receive one of the nation’s greatest honours … It has been a four-decade love affair with the country and its people, its artists, and culture. We consider America to be a home away from home and we are very grateful to the Kennedy Center Honors for welcoming us into this great clan of extraordinary artists.”


[/size][size]
Clooney, 61, began his career in television, becoming a household name for his portrayal of heartthrob doctor Doug Ross on “ER.” He has won two Oscars, five Golden Globes and an Emmy as both a performer and producer and is known worldwide for his work on films such as the Ocean’s film series, “Out of Sight,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou” and “Good Night, and Good Luck.” In 2016, Clooney and his wife, Amal, created the Clooney Foundation for Justice to fight for human rights around the world.
“Growing up in a small town in Kentucky I could never have imagined that someday I’d be the one sitting in the balcony at the Kennedy Center Honors. To be mentioned in the same breath with the rest of these incredible artists is an honor. This is a genuinely exciting surprise for the whole Clooney family,” Clooney said in a statement.


[/size][size]
The musical career of six-time Grammy winner Grant, 61, spans more than 40 years and includes singles that topped the pop, adult contemporary and contemporary Christian charts. Among her best-known hits are “Baby Baby” and “The Next Time I Fall,” a duet with Peter Cetera, and a series of popular Christmas albums. She is the first musician from the contemporary Christian genre to be honored by the Kennedy Center.









[/size]

Thanks for posting, PP. Just saw this myself and was thinking they made some great choices this time. - especially George! Nick must be over the moon for him. I'm glad CBS will be airing it. I just wish it was sooner.

If he turns this honor into a commercial for Amal ( she has so much love to give, she's the smartest person of any room she walks in) instead of focusing on the honor it self, I swear i'm throwing a shoe at th tv set, and sticking my George voodoo doll full of pins.

Without doubt, he's known Biden for a hell of a lot longer.

That's going to be a hell of a night - George AND Bono with U2 - and maybe the pips! 

(Can't help thinking that Bono was part of the fatal night at George's house)

Saw this article in the Post this morning but didn’t get a chance to post it here.  Thanks PigPen!   Very excited for George.  This is a long time coming.  Been wondering for a few years now why he hasn’t been honored.  The article doesn’t do him justice by not mentioning the wide range of humanitarian efforts he has taken on.  But sure the long list of his many achievements will be covered at the event.  Yes, seems fitting that he and U2 would be honored in he same year.  I think The Kennedy Center Honors will be particularly 
special and meaningful for George.  Yay George!

The only pip that is still living is Glady's brother Bubba.

party animal - not! wrote:Without doubt, he's known Biden for a hell of a lot longer.

That's going to be a hell of a night - George AND Bono with U2 - and maybe the pips! 

(Can't help thinking that Bono was part of the fatal night at George's house)

what fatal night?????

The night that George and Amal met. She was heading for Nice (and working for Kofi Annan at the time) and she  already knew one (if not two) of Bono's daughters and Sam Barry who was with the BBC, but is now editor of Glamour magazine. Bono has a place in Eze near Nice and of course motor cycled with George.....

The Irish connection?