Jones, Streisand, Townshend, Daltrey Nab Kennedy Honors September 09, 2008
- Country
| Rock and Pop
By Ken Tucker, Nashville
George Jones and Barbra Streisand, as well as Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of the Who, will receive the Kennedy Center Honors for 2008. Actor Morgan Freeman and choreographer Twyla Tharp will also be honored.
"With their extraordinary genius and tenacity, the 2008 honorees have redefined the way we see, hear and feel the performing arts," said Kennedy Center chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman in a prepared statement. "With his unique voice and extraordinary career endurance, singer George Jones has been instrumental in making country music a vital force in American life. Barbra Streisand's trailblazing career in music, theater, films, and television is one of the most thrilling spectacles of our culture. As the heart and soul of the seminal band the Who, songwriters and singers Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey transformed the sights and sounds of rock and roll."
On Sunday, Dec. 7, in a star-studded celebration on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage, performers from around the world will salute the 2008 honorees. The show will be broadcast on CBS. The Kennedy Center Honors will be bestowed the night before the gala, on Dec. 6, at a State Department dinner hosted by secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.
The honors recipients, recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts, are selected by the Center's board of trustees.
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