- Title: George Clooney, Amy Grant, Gladys Knight, U2 receive Kennedy Center Honors
- Date: 5th December 2022
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 4, 2022) (REUTERS) KENNEDY CENTER HONOREE ACTOR AND FILMMAKER GEORGE CLOONEY AND WIFE AMAL CLOONEY ON THE RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR AND FILMMAKER GEORGE CLOONEY, SAYING ON WHETHER HE EVER IMAGINED BEING AWARDED THE KENNEDY HONOR: "No, I didn't. I grew up on a you know, in a small town in Kentucky. I cut tobacco for a l
- Embargoed: 19th December 2022 03:59
- Keywords: Amy Grant George Clooney Gladys Knight Kennedy Awards Kennedy Center Honors Tania León U2
- Location: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA001440205122022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Actor George Clooney, singer-songwriter Amy Grant, singer Gladys Knight, composer Tania León and rock group U2 were celebrated on Sunday (December 4) for their contributions to the arts at a White House reception and at the Kennedy Center Honors show.
The Kennedy Center event, now in its 45th year, recognizes stars from music, stage and screen for their contributions to American culture. At a reception for the five honorees at the White House beforehand, President Joe Biden addressed each personally, praising their individual talents and saying they embodied the spirit of the country.
Actress Julia Roberts Roberts, who has co-starred in multiple films with Clooney, wore a floor-length gown to the awards with framed images of him on it.
The show highlighted the five artists' work, and represented a return to the times before the coronavirus pandemic began; on Sunday night, there was no requirement for testing or masking to attend although hundreds died of the disease in the United States last week. Clooney, an actor and filmmaker who played a doctor on the popular NBC television show "ER" before launching a movie career that earned him two Academy Awards, said becoming a Kennedy Center honoree was a little daunting.
Grant rose to prominence as a contemporary Christian music singer who later crossed over to pop stardom, amassing six Grammy Awards.
Knight, who has won seven Grammy Awards, is famous for hit songs including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight Train to Georgia" as the lead singer of The Pips, which became Gladys Knight & The Pips in 1962.
Cuban-born León is a conductor as well as a composer, whose orchestral piece "Stride" won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music.
Irish band U2, with members Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr., has won 22 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Inside the Kennedy Center opera house where the show was held, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul, who has been recovering after he was attacked in October in their San Francisco home, got a standing ovation when they appeared at the balcony.
(Production: Greg Savoy, Temis Tormo) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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