Tonight, the Kennedy Center Honors returns for the 47th year to celebrate the lifetime achievements of some of America’s greatest artists. With 2023 honoree Queen Latifah back as this year’s master of ceremonies, the 2024 gala follows tradition in that it will tribute five deserving honorees at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C, but this year’s proceedings will make history as the first time that an institution, rather than an individual, is one of the recipients.
The 47th annual gala will honor Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band The Grateful Dead; Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt; Academy Award winning director and producer Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now); Cuban-American jazz trumpeter and pianist, Arturo Sandoval; and the iconic theater and live performance venue, The Apollo Theater in New York City.
The ceremony traditionally features personalized tributes and testimonials to the honorees from their fellow artists, and this year was no exception. Emmylou Harris and Dave Matthews performed a cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “Angel from Montgomery,” with Sheryl Crowe also giving a speech about Raitt’s influence on her. Actors Miles Teller and Chloe Sevigny and talk show host David Letterman came out to toast the Grateful Dead, while Coppola received praises from past Kennedy Center honorees, including Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Al Pacino and George Lucas.
Performers honoring Arturo Sandoval included brass man Trombone Shorty, flamenco dancer Timo Nunez and pianist Chucho Valdez from Sandoval’s original band. And the influence and history of the Apollo was represented with musical numbers by The War and Treaty, tap dancing by Savion Glover and stories from comedy legend Dave Chappelle.
To watch the Kennedy Center Honors 2024 tonight at 8:30pm Eastern Time, you will need to have access to CBS, whether that is through a traditional cable subscription, a TV antenna, live TV streaming service (i.e. Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV) or a Paramount Plus with Showtime subscription, all of which gives you access to your live local CBS station through the streamer. The ceremony will be able to stream on-demand for all Paramount Plus subscribers starting Sunday, December 22.
Get a sneak peek of tonight’s ceremony with a highlights reel above before tuning into the full 47th annual Kennedy Center Honors tonight on CBS.