Trump Names 2026 Kennedy Center Honorees, Including David Foster and Andy Garcia, as Ceremony Moves Venues for First Time
Trump Names 2026 Kennedy Center Honorees, Including David Foster and Andy Garcia, as Ceremony Moves Venues for First Time
Desiree Anello, Greta BjornsonMon, November 2, 2026 at 5:01 PM UTC
16
From left: David Foster; Donald Trump; Andy GarciaCredit: Robin L Marshall/Getty; SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty; Amy Sussman/Getty -
The star-studded recipients of the 2026 Kennedy Center Honors have been revealed
This year’s ceremony will honor the five legends of stage, screen and song at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
This year’s ceremony comes amid President Donald Trump’s temporary closure of the Kennedy Center amid a legal battle over his repeated push to add his name to the performing arts institution
President Donald Trump has announced the recipients of the 2026 Kennedy Center Honors.
The president, 80, named Paul Anka, David Foster, Andy Garcia, David Mamet and Barbara Mandrell as this year’s 49th class of honorees on Monday, Nov. 2.
“We are recognizing amazing artists whose lifelong work has shaped American culture and inspired generations of audiences,” Trump said in a press release. “We are proud to honor this year’s class and to continue a tradition that has defined the Center for nearly 50 years.”
The honorees were selected based on recommendations by the Kennedy Center’s Special Honors Advisory Committee (SHAC). Members of the committee include former honorees, as well as artists and members of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, which is led by Trump.
While the ceremony has been historically held in the 2,347-capacity Opera House of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, this year’s Kennedy Center Honors will be held in a different location for the first time ever. The ceremony will take place on Dec. 7 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
— sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Anka, 85, has been working in the music industry for almost 70 years. He became famous for his hit song “Diana” in 1957, released when he was just 15 years old. Some of his most famous songwriting credits include Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” the theme of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, as well as “She’s a Lady” for Tom Jones and “I’m Not Anyone” for Sammy Davis Jr.
His other accolades include being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He has also received the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Johnny Mercer Award, BMI’s Icon Award and France’s National Order of Merit.
Paul Anka at the 2026 BMI Pop Awards on May 12, 2026 in Beverly Hills, Calif.Credit: Lester Cohen/Getty
Foster, 77, is a multi-award winning composer with 16 Grammys, an Emmy and a Golden Globe. He has also been nominated three times for best original song at the Oscars. Throughout his career, he’s created songs for Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Madonna, as well as Stevie Wonder, Michael Bolton and Dolly Parton.
Foster, who is married to American Idol alum Katherine McPhee, released his own concert specials in 2008 and 2011, and began touring in 2018 with “An Intimate Evening with David Foster.”
David Foster attends the 12th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Barker Hangar on April 18, 2026 in Santa Monica, Calif.Credit: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Garcia, 70, is an actor known for his roles in The Godfather: Part III — for which he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor — as well as The Untouchables, Ocean’s Eleven and Internal Affairs.
Garcia has been nominated twice for a Golden Globe, receiving his first nomination for his role in The Godfather: Part III and his second for For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story, which also earned him an Emmy nomination. Garcia previously received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was also awarded the Crystal Globe from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, as well as lifetime achievement awards from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors and the Imagen Foundation.
Advertisement
Andy Garcia poses during the ‘Diamond’ photocall at the 79th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2026 in Cannes, France.Credit: Dominique Charriau/WireImage
Mamet, 78, is an award-winning playwright, as well as screenwriter, author and director who is best known for his work on American Buffalo, Speed-the-Plow, The Anarchist and Glengarry Glen Ross. Mamet won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for drama for Glengarry Glen Ross, which he later adapted into a film starring Al Pacino and Alec Baldwin.
Mamet has been nominated for two Academy Awards and two Emmys, and also written multiple books, including the New York Times bestsellers “The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture” and “Recessional: The Death of Free Speech and the Cost of a Free Lunch.”
He is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company and chief cartoonist of The Free Press.
David Mamet at the ‘Henry Johnson’ world premiere in Los Angeles on May 9, 2025Credit: Rob Latour/Shutterstock
Mandrell, 77, is a country music singer who began her career as a child prodigy, playing the steel guitar at age 11 and touring with The Johnny Cash show in her teens. Some of her early hits include “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” as well as “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed,” “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right” and “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.”
She was named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association in 1980, and earned the title once more in 1981. Mandrell retired from music in 1997 with a final concert later televised on TNN. In 1999, Mandrell joined the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and was given The Pioneer Award by the Academy of Country Music in 2000. She made history in 2009 by becaming the only woman inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame.
Barbara Mandrell at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House on Oct. 30, 2022Credit: Tammie Arroyo/Shutterstock
This year’s ceremony comes amid Trump’s temporary closure of the Kennedy Center for renovation amid a legal battle over his repeated push to add his name to the Washington, D.C., performing arts institution.
For nearly five decades, the Kennedy Center Honors has celebrated individuals whose “unique artistic contributions have shaped our world” and have had an impact on “the rich tapestry of American life and culture,” per the Kennedy Center’s website.
Last year, Trump stated that he was “about 98 percent involved” in picking the 2025 honorees after appointing himself chairman of the Kennedy Center and installing a MAGA-friendly board that February.
“They all went through me,” he said of last year’s honoree selection. “I turned down plenty who were too woke.”
The 2025 honorees included country music icon George Strait, legendary rock band KISS, Tony Award-winning stage and screen star Michael Crawford, Grammy-winning disco pioneer Gloria Gaynor, blockbuster film powerhouse and Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone.
“Since 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors have been among the most prestigious awards in the performing arts. I wanted one. I was never able to get one,” Trump said at the time. “I waited and waited and waited, and I said, ‘The hell with it. I’ll become chairman.’ I’ll give myself an honor. Maybe... next year we’ll honor Trump.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
