Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Kennedy Center lauds performers
Gladys Knight, George Clooney, U2 among honorees
WASHINGTON — Gladys Knight, George Clooney and Amy Grant were honored Sunday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Composer and conductor Tania Leon and the rock group U2 were also part of this year’s class.
Patti LaBelle praised her lifelong friend Knight. Matt Damon playfully teased his friend Clooney, while Sheryl Crow gave thanks and a heartfelt rendition of “Baby Baby” to her fellow singer Grant during Sunday’s Kennedy Center Honors.
Every year, the Kennedy Center honors a select group of people for their artistic influences on American culture. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses were in attendance.
On the red carpet ahead of the Kennedy Center show, Clooney, with his wife, Amal, beside him, joked that after seeing friends like Don Cheadle and Julia Roberts in attendance he was worried his tribute would be more of a “roast.” And it was a bit of a roast for Clooney, though his friends and family showed obvious respect.
After an introduction that alternated between funny and serious, Roberts, wearing a dress emblazoned with photos of Clooney, turned to a set designed to look like a smoky bar. The actor’s father regaled the crowd with stories of a young George, including the time the 7-year-old —heartbroken over the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 — gave his father all his toy guns.
Damon took the funny road, joking about how Clooney once stole then-President Bill Clinton’s stationery and wrote notes to fellow actors on it. Cheadle highlighted Clooney’s philanthropic work.
LaBelle called Knight her “everything,” saying they had been friends for six decades and seen each other through laughter and tears. “We do everything together,” LaBelle said. “I am honored to honor you tonight.”
The honorees came to the theater from a White House reception where Biden praised them before a star-studded East Room crowd as an “exceptional group of artists.”
U2 has sold 170 million albums and been honored with 22 Grammys. The band’s epic singles include “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Pride (In the Name of Love)” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”
Lead singer Bono has also become known for his philanthropic work to eradicate poverty and to raise awareness about AIDS.
Clooney became a household name on the television show “ER” before starring in movies such as “Three Kings,” “Ocean’s Eleven” ( and “… Twelve” and “… Thirteen”), “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and this year’s “Ticket to Paradise.”
Knight and family members started a band that would later be known as Gladys Knight & The Pips and produced their first album in 1960 when Knight was just 16. Since then she’s recorded dozens of albums with such classic hits as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Midnight Train to Georgia.”
Grant is well known for crossover pop hits like “Every Heartbeat” and “That’s What Love is For.” She’s sold more than 30 million albums, including her 1991 record “Heart in Motion,” which introduced her to a larger pop audience.
Leon said during an interview when the honorees were announced that she wasn’t expecting “anything spectacular” when the Kennedy Center initially reached out to her.
She’s worked with the Kennedy Center numerous times over the years going back to 1980, when she was commissioned to compose music for a play. But the 79-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner said she was stunned to learn that this time the ceremony was going to be for her.
Leon left Cuba as a refugee in 1967 and eventually settled in New York City. She’s a founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series.