Kennedy Center honors Grateful Dead and Francis Ford Coppola

Photo: Malcolm Lubliner/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The Kennedy Center Honors are ready to rock out to some groovy tunes at this year’s ceremony. Maybe smoke a blunt and eat Cherry Garcia? The Grateful Dead are among the honorees at the 47th Kennedy Center Honors, and we’re sure the dancing bears are dancing especially wildly today. “We’ve always felt that the music we make embodies and communicates something that goes beyond the notes and phrases played – and that’s something we can share with anyone who is drawn to what we do – so it must also be said that our music belongs to our fans, the Dead Heads, as much as it does to us,” Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bobby Weir said in a statement. “So this honor belongs to them as much as it does to us.”

They join Francis Ford Coppola, maker of the best films of the 1970s (and the weirdest film of 2024), singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt and jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. The Apollo will receive special honors because it is an iconic American institution. The Kennedy Center Honors will take place on December 8 and will be broadcast live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ on December 23. After all, what better Christmas entertainment for the young?