Trump announces the 2026 honorees
President Donald Trump has announced the five recipients of the 2026 Kennedy Center Honors: singer-songwriter Paul Anka, composer and producer David Foster, actor Andy Garcia, playwright David Mamet and country music star Barbara Mandrell.
The announcement was made by Trump, who serves as chairman of the Kennedy Center’s board after a shake-up of its leadership earlier in his second term. The honorees were selected for lifetime contributions to American culture through music, film, theatre and television.
The Kennedy Center Honors, first presented in 1978, recognise artists whose work has shaped American performing arts. Past honorees include a wide range of musicians, actors, dancers, directors and writers.
The 2026 class
Paul Anka, 85, is one of the most prolific songwriters of the pop era, known for hits including “Diana,” “Lonely Boy” and “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” as well as writing the lyrics for Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” and the theme for “The Tonight Show.”
David Foster, 77, is a 16-time Grammy Award-winning composer, producer and arranger who has worked with artists including Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé and Andrea Bocelli.
Andy Garcia, 70, is an actor known for films including “The Godfather Part III,” “The Untouchables,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and “When a Man Loves a Woman.” He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has worked extensively in film and television.
David Mamet, 78, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter known for works including “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “American Buffalo” and “Speed-the-Plow,” as well as films such as “The Verdict” and “Wag the Dog.”
Barbara Mandrell, 77, is a country music star who became one of the genre’s most prominent crossover artists in the 1970s and 1980s, with hits including “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed” and “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.” She was the first artist to win the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award twice.
A ceremony outside the Kennedy Center
This year’s ceremony will be held on December 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., rather than at the Kennedy Center itself — the first time the Honors have been staged outside the performing arts centre.
The move follows the Kennedy Center’s closure for a major renovation project. The centre, which opened in 1971 as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, is undergoing extensive work that has closed its main stages.
Holding the ceremony at the larger arena will allow a bigger audience than the Kennedy Center’s Opera House, which traditionally hosted the event.
Closure and naming dispute
The Kennedy Center’s closure and renovation have been accompanied by a dispute over its name. The Trump administration and its allies have pushed to rename the centre, while critics, including members of the Kennedy family, have opposed changes to a memorial named for the former president.
The centre’s board, now led by Trump allies, has overseen the renovation and programming changes. Supporters of the project say the building needed major repairs and modernisation. Critics argue the changes are political and threaten the centre’s independence as a cultural institution.
The naming dispute remains unresolved, and the 2026 Honors are taking place against that backdrop.
What happens next
The December 7 ceremony will be recorded for television broadcast, as in past years, with performances celebrating each honoree’s career. The broadcast date has not yet been announced.
Tickets for the Capital One Arena ceremony are expected to go on sale through the Kennedy Center, with details to be published in the coming weeks.
The 2026 class joins a roster of honorees that includes some of the most celebrated figures in American arts, from Aretha Franklin and Bruce Springsteen to Meryl Streep and Steven Spielberg.
Sources: Kennedy Center; White House; Associated Press.