The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The latest 37th edition, held at the beginning of last month at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, honoured ballerina Patricia McBride, singer-songwriter Sting, singer Al Green, comedienne Lily Tomlin and actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama presided over the star-studded gala and the honorees sat with them in the presidential box. The honorees don’t have to give acceptance speeches or perform, and they don’t know who is paying tribute to them in advance. “Allow us to love you,” host Steven Colbert said. “Tonight, Washington puts the arts above politics, because no matter what party you belong to, everyone wants a selfie with Tom Hanks,” Colbert said.
President Obama stated in his introductory speech: “The group on stage with me tonight understands what President Kennedy understood: that our art is a reflection of us not just as people, but as a nation. It binds us together. Songs and dance and film express our triumphs and our faults, our strengths, our tenderness in ways that sometimes words simply cannot do. And so we honor those who have dedicated their lives to this endeavor.”
The event conveys such a lot of warmth and appreciation for those being honoured and quite a lot of fun and giggles as well as you watch the celebrity attendees behaving like real groupies at a One Direction concert.
Just being there, Al Green said, “means the world to me.” The 68-year-old soul singer turned Baptist preacher said the honor was different from selling millions of records or winning multiple Grammys. “I worked 40 years to get this one.”
This has to be broadcast TV’s classiest show and the star-studded celebration on the Kennedy Center stage was a sight to behold. We’ve collected together our favourite performances from the show – ones you’ll want to keep in your collection. If you would prefer to listen to the songs in a playlist format – no problem, scroll to the bottom of the page for that.
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In our opinion it was Bruno Mars who stole the show with his musical tribute to Sting. Mars kicked off his tribute with the 1978 chart topper So Lonely from the Police’s debut album Outlandos d’Amour. He followed this with the 1979 mega hit Message in a Bottle from the Regatta de Blanc album. The cast of Sting’s broadway musical The Last Ship then joined Mars on stage for the “Sending out an SOS” part of the song – which was quite a real surprise for Sting. Soon enough Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and President Obama were singing along, as were the rest of the audience.
Bruno Mars So Lonely / Message in a Bottle – Sting – Kennedy Center Honors
Lady Gaga’s performance of If I Ever Lose My Faith in You to honor Sting was a powerful, heartfelt rendition. She changed the words to “If I ever lose my faith in you/oh, it would sting, how it would sting.”
Lady Gaga – If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
Esperanza Spalding & Herbie Hancock – Fragile
Bruce Springsteen singing Sting at 2014 Kennedy Center Honors
Jennifer Hudson and Usher Sing Honoring Al Green 2014 Kennedy Center Honors
Take Me To The River – Mavis Staples and Sam Moore
Earth, Wind & Fire – Love And Happiness – Honouring Al Green
Tom Hanks Tribute 2014 Kennedy Center Honors
Another highlight for us was when Pentatonix hit the stage to honour actor Tom Hanks with a great performance from his 1997 film of the same name, which is the story of a boy band that rises to fame from the success of the catchy track That Thing You Do.
