Gloria Estefan to host 2018 Kennedy Center Honors Sunday for Dec. 26 broadcast
Multiple Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and actress Gloria Estefan will host the 41st Annual Kennedy Center Honors, to be broadcast from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 26 on the CBS Television Network.
“Gloria Estefan is everything you want in a host for this celebration of the arts. She is herself a Kennedy Center Honoree,” said Jack Sussman, Executive Vice President of Specials, Music and Live Events for CBS Entertainment, in a statement. “Gloria is a Grammy winner, a Broadway producer and one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of this or any generation. On top of it all, she is a caring, beautiful human who is smart, funny and can lead the Conga line out of the Kennedy Center at the conclusion of the night’s festivities.”
This will be Estefan’s first time hosting the special, according to a news release. She received a Kennedy Center Honors in 2017.
As previously reported, the star-studded 2018 Kennedy Center Honors class will include Oklahoma native and Country Music Hall of Famer Reba McEntire. She will be honored alongside fellow singer/actress Cher, composer and pianist Philip Glass and jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter.
Additionally, the co-creators of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “Hamilton” — writer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler and music director Alex Lacamoire — will receive a unique Kennedy Center Honors as trailblazing creators of a transformative work that defies category.
“The Kennedy Center Honors recognizes exceptional artists who have made enduring and indelible marks on our culture,” Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein said in a statement.
In a star-studded celebration Sunday on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage, the 2018 honorees will be saluted by today’s leading performers from New York, Hollywood and the arts capitals of the world, accepting the recognition and gratitude of their peers through performances and tributes.
The honors recipients are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts – whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures or television – and are confirmed by the executive committee of the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees. The primary criterion in the selection process is excellence. The Honors are not designated by art form or category of artistic achievement; over the years, the selection process has produced a balance among the various arts and artistic disciplines.
Estefan is a singer-songwriter, actress, author, philanthropist and humanitarian. The international superstar has received seven Grammy Awards, an Oscar nomination, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement, an induction into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame, an Ellis Island Medal of Honor and a National Artistic Achievement Award from the U.S. Congress. In 2016, President Obama honored Emilio and Gloria Estefan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor presented to individuals who have made meritorious contributions to the United States, world peace and cultural endeavors.
“On Your Feet! The Musical,” the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical based on the lives and music of Emilio and Gloria Estefan and executive produced by the pair, is the story of two people who, through an unwavering dedication to one another and their pursuit of the American dream, showcased their talent, music and heritage to the world in a remarkable rise to global superstardom. Since the show’s opening, “On Your Feet! The Musical”has received rave critical reviews and nominations for Tony Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards and Drama League Awards. As previously reported, the national tour of "On Your Feet!" will play Oklahoma City Feb. 5-10 at the Civic Center Music Hall.
With more than 100 million records sales worldwide, Estefan and her husband Emilio are also successful entrepreneurs, owning and operating several businesses, including a globally recognized music publishing company and a hospitality division with seven restaurants and two hotels (the Cardozo Hotel on South Beach and Costa d’Este Beach Resort in Vero Beach). The Estefans are also the first Cuban-American couple to own a minority share in a major NFL franchise, the Miami Dolphins.
-BAM