Kennedy Center to honor Francis Ford Coppola, the Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, and more

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has named its 47th class for its Kennedy Center Honors, and this year legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the Grateful Dead, and Grammy winner Bonnie Raitt were among those singled out for their lifetime artistic achievement.

Also included were musician and composer Arturo Sandoval; the iconic Harlem venue The Apollo will receive a special Honors as an American institution.

In a statement, Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein noted, “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.”

He feted Coppola as “a brilliant and masterful storyteller with an unrelenting innovative spirit,” whose “films have become embedded in the very idea of American culture.”

Rubenstein saluted Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bobby Weir, calling the band a “social and cultural phenomenon since 1965,” whose music, “never stopped being a true American original, while inspiring a fan culture like no other.”

He called Raitt “an ambassador of both music and humanity,” and said that Sandoval “transcended literal borders coming from Cuba 30+ years ago and today continues to bridge cultures with his intoxicating blend of Afro Cuban rhythms and modern jazz.”

As for The Apollo, the organization’s chairman called it, “one of the most consequential, influential institutions in history” that “has elevated the voices of Black entertainment in New York City, nationally, and around the world, and launched the careers of legions of artists.”

The Kennedy Center Honors will be handed out on December 8, 2024, ahead of a CBS broadcast of the event on December 23.