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President Donald Trump on Wednesday named actor Sylvester Stallone, 79, country music star George Strait, 73, singer Gloria Gaynor, 81, rock band Kiss and actor-singer Michael Crawford, 83, among the first batch of Kennedy Center Honors nominees under his leadership as the center’s chairman.
Trump, 79, said he will host the December awards program, “fully renovate” the infrastructure of the Kennedy Center to make it a “crown jewel” of arts and culture in the United States and feature it in next year’s celebrations of America’s 250th anniversary.
In a statement on its social media feed, the Kennedy Center said it was “honored” to host Trump.
It is unclear how this year’s honorees were chosen, though Trump had indicated he wanted a more active role. Historically, a bipartisan advisory committee selects the recipients, who over the years have ranged from George Balanchine and Tom Hanks, 69, to Aretha Franklin and Stephen Sondheim.
The Rocky and Tulsa King star, who was nominated for best supporting actor for Creed in AARP’s 2015 Movies for Grownups Awards, was named a special ambassador to Hollywood by Trump in January.
The country singer, who set a record for the most No. 1 songs in any genre, is best known for hits like “Amarillo by Morning” and “Check Yes or No.”
The singer told AARP that 1978’s “I Will Survive,” her biggest hit, “is the story of my life and the struggles that I’ve had and my determination to get through all of it, to survive it all.” She added that young people should go to college because she did so at 65. “If I could do it at 65, you surely can do it now.”
Crawford won a 1966 BAFTA Award as most promising newcomer in The Knack ... and How to Get It and earned a Tony Award and an Olivier Award in the original 1986 production of The Phantom of the Opera, which was revived on Broadway this year.
Gene Simmons, 75, the band’s leader, told TMZ, “Kiss is the embodiment of the American dream. We are deeply honored to receive the Kennedy Center Honor.”
The Kennedy Center Honors were established in 1978 and have been given to a broad range of artists.
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