Grammy and Academy Award-winning musician and out lesbian Melissa Etheridge was part of the tribute to singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen at the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors. The 32nd annual event also recognized writer, composer, actor, director, and producer Mel Brooks; pianist and composer Dave Brubeck; opera singer Grace Bumbry; and actor, director, and producer Robert De Niro.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts recognizes recipients for lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures and television. President and Mrs. Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were seated with the honorees in the Presidential Box of the Kennedy Center Opera House. The program, originally held December 6, will be shown on CBS TV, December 20 at 9 pm ET.
Event host Caroline Kennedy quoted her father, President John F. Kennedy: "… I look forward to an America that will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecraft." She described the five 2009 honorees as "a piano virtuoso from the California hills whose inspired rhythms made him America’s herald of a new age of jazz; a good fella from the mean streets of New York who redefined acting and made movie audiences an offer they couldn’t refuse; the little girl from a St. Louis church choir who could hit high C and became the diva we cheered in the houses of grand opera; a mischievous boy from Brooklyn who provoked billions of laughs by walking loudly and carrying a big schtick; and a rocker from the Jersey Shore who composed his own musical universe and – across America and the world – became the Boss."
Etheridge, who performed Springsteen’s 1975 hit "Born to Run," joined other performers and presenters including Roger Bart, Gary Beach, Jack Black, Matthew Broderick, Harry Connick, Jr., Cory English, Simon Estes, Aretha Franklin, Angela Gheorghiu, Herbie Hancock, Ben Harper, Shuler Hensley, Harvey Keitel, Ron Kovic, Jane Krakowski, Richard Kind, Frank Langella, John Mellencamp, Matthew Morrison, Jennifer Nettles, Edward Norton, Carl Reiner, Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman, Martin Scorsese, Martin Short, Jon Stewart, Ben Stiller, Sting, Sharon Stone, Meryl Streep, and Eddie Vedder.
Get more from Edie here!
Follow SheWired on Twitter!
