Grateful Dead, Francis Ford Coppola, Bonnie Raitt on 2024 Kennedy Center Honors list

The 2024 Kennedy Center honorees, clockwise from left, The Apollo theater; the Grateful Dead (Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Billy Kreutzmann); jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval; blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, Bonnie Raitt; and director and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.

Apollo Theater / Jay Blakesberg / Jeremy Lock / Ken Friedman / Chad Keig/The Kennedy Center Honors

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Apollo Theater / Jay Blakesberg / Jeremy Lock / Ken Friedman / Chad Keig/The Kennedy Center Honors

The recipients of the 47th Kennedy Center Honors have been announced.

The award for lifetime artistic achievements will recognize director and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola; blues singer-songwriter and guitarist Bonnie Raitt; jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval; the Apollo Theater, which will receive a special Honors as “an iconic American institution”; and the four surviving members of countercultural rock band the Grateful Dead.

Guitarist Bob Weir, who collaborated with the National Symphony Orchestra to bring the Dead’s catalogue to the Kennedy Center in 2022, told NPR he was speechless — and profusely thanked the Deadheads who’ve sustained the band for nearly six decades, as well as his deceased bandmates Jerry Garcia and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan.

“Not so long ago, we were sort of outsiders. Now all of that’s kind of changed,” Weir said. “We’ve been more or less accepted into the American musical tradition, which is where we’ve always been.”

The Honors raise money for the Kennedy Center while recognizing

“In December, we are thrilled to pay special tribute to New York City’s renowned Apollo Theater on its 90th anniversary,” said Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter in a statement. “Throughout its history, The Apollo has guided us and the world forward by discovering and nurturing raw talent, molding a unique cultural identity that defines American culture still today.”