{"id":1160955,"date":"2026-11-02T19:21:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T19:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1160955\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T19:21:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T19:21:12","slug":"kennedy-center-honorees-class-of-2026-anka-foster-garcia-mamet-mandrell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1160955\/","title":{"rendered":"Kennedy Center Honorees Class Of 2026: Anka, Foster, Garcia, Mamet & Mandrell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe honors celebrate the lifetime contributions of influential artists in music, dance, theater, opera, motion pictures and TV. The quintet will be feted on December 7 during a gala ceremony event held for the first time<\/a> at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. as the Kennedy Center is closed for potential renovations<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\tNo word yet on who will host this year\u2019s event. President Donald Trump<\/a> hosted last year\u2019s ceremony<\/a>, which honored Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor and KISS.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are recognizing amazing artists whose lifelong work has shaped American culture and inspired generations of audiences,\u201d Trump said in a statement. \u201cWe are proud to honor this year\u2019s class and to continue a tradition that has defined the Center for nearly 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 2025 telecast in December drew all-time-low viewership on CBS<\/a>. The center\u2019s rights deal with that network expired last year, and there has been no announcement who would telecast the 2026 ceremony.<\/p>\n

\n\tA federal judge ruled September 17 that the Kennedy Center must give his court 30 days before proceeding on any demolition of the center.<\/p>\n

PAUL ANKA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul Anka has been writing and recording hits for nearly seven decades. He became a star at 15 when \u201cDiana\u201d went to No. 1 in 1957, followed by hits including \u201cPuppy Love\u201d and, later, \u201c(You\u2019re) Having My Baby.\u201d He went on to write \u201cMy Way\u201d for Frank Sinatra and the theme for \u201cThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,\u201d the longest-running theme in television history.<\/p>\n

Anka toured with the Cavalcade of Stars alongside Buddy Holly, Frankie Lymon, and Chuck Berry and became the youngest entertainer to headline at the Copacabana. Knowing the power was in the pen, Anka wrote for Connie Francis, Lesley Gore, and Buddy Holly, including the last song Holly ever recorded, \u201cIt Doesn\u2019t Matter Anymore,\u201d and later wrote \u201cShe\u2019s a Lady\u201d for Tom Jones and \u201cI\u2019m Not Anyone\u201d for Sammy Davis Jr. In the early 1960s, he became a junior associate of Sinatra and the Rat Pack and wrote the theme for the 1962 film \u201cThe Longest Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later highlights include \u201cHold Me \u2018Til the Mornin\u2019 Comes,\u201d a 1983 duet with Peter Cetera; \u201cBody of Work,\u201d a 1998 duets album featuring Sinatra and Celine Dion; and \u201cThis Is It,\u201d a posthumous 2009 hit he co-wrote with Michael Jackson. His 2005 album \u201cRock Swings\u201d hit No. 2 on Billboard\u2019s Top Jazz Albums chart. The holiday album \u201cSongs of December\u201d followed in 2011.<\/p>\n

In 2013, he published his autobiography, \u201cMy Way,\u201d a New York Times bestseller. That year, \u201cDuets\u201d made Anka the only artist with an album on the Billboard Top 100 in seven consecutive decades. In 2014, \u201cLove Never Felt So Good,\u201d another Jackson co-write, reached No. 1 in more than 50 countries. In 2018, \u201cDon\u2019t Matter to Me,\u201d a collaboration with Jackson on Drake\u2019s album \u201cScorpion,\u201d reached the Billboard top 10.<\/p>\n

Anka is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. His honors include the Songwriters Hall of Fame\u2019s Johnny Mercer Award, BMI\u2019s Icon Award and France\u2019s National Order of Merit.<\/p>\n

Anka appeared on \u201cThe Masked Singer\u201d in 2020 and continues to write and record. His albums \u201cMaking Memories\u201d (2021) and \u201cSessions\u201d (2022) included a duet with Olivia Newton-John and a new \u201cMy Way\u201d with Michael Bubl\u00e9 and Andrea Bocelli. His latest album, \u201cInspirations of Life and Love,\u201d was released in 2026. The album arrives as Anka continues to captivate sold-out audiences worldwide, proving his music and legacy remain as powerful as ever.<\/p>\n

DAVID FOSTER<\/strong><\/p>\n

David Foster is one of the most illustrious composers of our time. With 16 Grammy Awards, including three for Producer of the Year, an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe, and three Oscar nominations for best original song, Foster has earned a reputation as a keen spotter of new talent, playing a key role in the discovery and career launches of Celine Dion, Josh Groban and Michael Bubl\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Few other individuals can claim to have their fingerprints on more major moments in all of popular music than David Foster. He has created hit songs for a diverse array of artists including Barbra Streisand; Whitney Houston; Michael Jackson; Madonna; Andrea Bocelli; Chicago; Rod Stewart; Stevie Wonder; Earth, Wind & Fire; Toni Braxton; Natalie Cole; Michael Bolton; Seal; Chaka Khan; Kenny Rogers; Dolly Parton; Hall & Oates; Brandy; \u2019N Sync; Boz Scaggs and Gloria Estefan.<\/p>\n

In 2008 and 2011, Foster stepped out as a performer in his own right with the PBS specials \u201cHit Man: David Foster and Friends\u201d and \u201cHit Man Returns,\u201d which became PBS\u2019 highest-rated shows in decades. In 2018, Foster started touring with his show \u2018An Intimate Evening with David Foster.\u2019 The shows garnered rave reviews and were so successful that he now devotes much of his time to selling out concerts around the world.<\/p>\n

Foster recently wrote the music to the new musical about the iconic animated character \u201cBetty Boop\u201d which opened on Broadway in 2025 and is about to embark on a national US tour. In 2023 David released a Christmas album with Katharine McPhee, titled \u201cChristmas Songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster has made charitable work his life\u2019s other priority. Meeting with a young girl from his hometown who was awaiting a liver transplant had a profound impact and led him to create The David Foster Foundation in 1986. Its mission is to provide financial support to Canadian families with children in need of life-saving organ transplants and provide awareness and education of the need to become a registered organ donor.<\/p>\n

ANDY GARCIA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andy Garcia has been honored for his work as an actor and director in film and television and as a music producer. His performance in Francis Ford Coppola\u2019s \u201cThe Godfather: Part III\u201d earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He later received an Emmy nomination and his second Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of legendary Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval in HBO\u2019s \u201cFor Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story,\u201d which he also executive produced.<\/p>\n

In 2026, Garcia premiered his film \u201cDiamond\u201d at the Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim. He wrote, directed and stars in the film alongside Brendan Fraser, Vicky Krieps, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray, Danny Huston and Rosemarie DeWitt. He also wrote its original score with longtime collaborator Arturo Sandoval.<\/p>\n

Garcia\u2019s upcoming films include \u201cThe Prince\u201d with J.K. Simmons and Giancarlo Esposito and \u201cMaserati\u201d opposite Anthony Hopkins. He was most recently seen in \u201cEenie Meanie\u201d and \u201cPain Hustlers.\u201d<\/p>\n

His other film credits include Steven Soderbergh\u2019s \u201cOcean\u2019s Eleven,\u201d \u201cOcean\u2019s Twelve\u201d and \u201cOcean\u2019s Thirteen,\u201d the \u201cBook Club\u201d films, \u201cFather of the Bride,\u201d which he also executive produced, \u201cMamma Mia! Here We Go Again,\u201d \u201cThe Mule,\u201d \u201cThe Untouchables,\u201d \u201cInternal Affairs,\u201d \u201cDead Again,\u201d \u201cBlack Rain,\u201d \u201cWhen a Man Loves a Woman,\u201d \u201cModigliani\u201d and \u201cCity Island,\u201d which he also produced. He also earned acclaim for his performance opposite Jeff Bridges in Hal Ashby\u2019s \u201c8 Million Ways to Die.\u201d<\/p>\n

On television, Garcia most recently appeared in Season 2 of Taylor Sheridan\u2019s \u201cLandman.\u201d His other television credits include \u201cModern Love,\u201d HBO\u2019s \u201cMy Dinner with Herv\u00e9\u201d and \u201cBallers.\u201d
Through his production company, CineSon Productions, Garcia made his directorial debut with the documentary concert film \u201cCachao\u2026 Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos.\u201d He also produced, directed, wrote the music for and starred in \u201cThe Lost City.\u201d Under his CineSon label, Garcia has won Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards for producing and performing on albums by Israel \u201cCachao\u201d L\u00f3pez.<\/p>\n

Garcia\u2019s honors include a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Crystal Globe from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and lifetime achievement awards from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors and the Imagen Foundation. This fall, he will receive the Stella della Mole Award at the Turin Film Festival, where \u201cDiamond\u201d will also screen.<\/p>\n

DAVID MAMET<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more than five decades, David Mamet has been one of the most distinctive voices in American theater and film. A Pulitzer Prize\u2013winning playwright, screenwriter, director and author, he is known for his sharp, rhythmic dialogue that has captivated audiences on stage and screen.<\/p>\n

Mamet\u2019s plays include \u201cOleanna,\u201d \u201cAmerican Buffalo,\u201d \u201cSpeed-the-Plow,\u201d \u201cBoston Marriage,\u201d \u201cNovember,\u201d \u201cRace,\u201d \u201cThe Anarchist\u201d and \u201cGlengarry Glen Ross,\u201d winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for drama. He wrote the screenplays for \u201cThe Verdict,\u201d \u201cThe Untouchables,\u201d \u201cRonin,\u201d \u201cHoffa,\u201d \u201cThe Edge\u201d and \u201cWag the Dog,\u201d and he has twice been nominated for an Academy Award. He has written and directed a dozen films, including \u201cHomicide,\u201d \u201cThe Spanish Prisoner,\u201d \u201cState and Main,\u201d \u201cHouse of Games,\u201d \u201cSpartan,\u201d \u201cRedbelt,\u201d \u201cHenry Johnson\u201d and the forthcoming film version of \u201cSpeed-the-Plow.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also wrote the novels \u201cThe Village,\u201d \u201cThe Old Religion,\u201d \u201cWilson,\u201d \u201cThe Diary of a Porn Star,\u201d \u201cSome Recollections of St. Ives\u201d and \u201cChicago,\u201d and many books of nonfiction, including \u201cBambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose and Practice of the Movie Business,\u201d \u201cTheatre,\u201d \u201cThree Uses of the Knife,\u201d \u201cEverywhere an Oink Oink: An Embittered, Dyspeptic and Accurate Report of Forty Years in Hollywood,\u201d and two New York Times bestsellers, \u201cThe Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture\u201d and \u201cRecessional: The Death of Free Speech and the Cost of a Free Lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

His 2013 HBO film \u201cPhil Spector,\u201d starring Al Pacino and Helen Mirren, earned him two Emmy Award nominations, for writing and directing. He was co-creator and executive producer of the CBS series \u201cThe Unit,\u201d is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company and is chief cartoonist of The Free Press.<\/p>\n

BARBARA MANDRELL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Born to a musical family in Houston, Texas, Mandrell began playing the accordion and reading sheet music before she could read words. By age eleven, she was a prodigy on the steel guitar. Her performance at a music trade show caught the attention of legendary country guitarists Chet Atkins and \u201cUncle\u201d Joe Maphis. Soon after, Maphis invited Mandrell to join his show at the Showboat Hotel in Las Vegas. It became one of the single greatest influences on her musicianship, and by the time she was a teenager, Mandrell was touring with The Johnny Cash Show.<\/p>\n

A short time later, Mandrell\u2019s father, Irby Mandrell, formed the Mandrell Family Band, and the act embarked on a successful tour across Asia. The formation of the band also brought Mandrell together with her future husband Ken Dudney, after her dad hired him as the drummer.<\/p>\n

Mandrell\u2019s career took off in Nashville, and she scored her first hit with a remake of Otis Redding\u2019s classic \u201cI\u2019ve Been Loving You Too Long.\u201d A succession of No.1 hits followed, with songs such as \u201cSleeping Single in a Double Bed,\u201d \u201c(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don\u2019t Want to Be Right\u201d and \u201cI Was Country When Country Wasn\u2019t Cool.\u201d In 1980, the Country Music Association named Mandrell Entertainer of the Year. She earned that accolade again in 1981 and is one of the most awarded country acts in history. Mandrell and her sisters, Louise and Irlene, enjoyed a lauded television career that began in the 1980s with her NBC variety show, Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters.<\/p>\n

In 1997, Mandrell officially retired with a final concert titled Barbara Mandrell and the Do-Rites: The Last Dance. It was filmed at the Grand Ole Opry for a highly-rated TNN concert special. Two years later, in 1999, Mandrell was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame. The next year, the Academy of Country Music honored Mandrell with its most prestigious award, The Pioneer Award. In 2009, Mandrell became the only woman ever to be inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame and was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2014, Mandrell was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The honors celebrate the lifetime contributions of influential artists in music, dance, theater, opera, motion pictures and TV.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1160956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[29],"tags":[230506,462262,132340,248599,69,171,84930,975,31443,84614,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1160955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-andy-garcia","tag-barbara-mandrell","tag-david-foster","tag-david-mamet","tag-donald-trump","tag-entertainment","tag-kennedy-center-honors","tag-music","tag-novid","tag-paul-anka","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117548475351616869","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1160955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1160955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1160955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1160956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1160955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1160955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1160955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}