Trump Reveals Kennedy Center Honors Recipients: KISS, Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford

TIME

President Donald Trump on Wednesday named country music star George Strait, “Rocky” actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, the rock band Kiss and actor-singer Michael Crawford among the first batch of Kennedy Center Honors nominees under his leadership as the center’s chairman and said he’ll host the awards program.

Transcript

00:00Thank you very much. This is a very exciting project. Let's talk about right now the Kennedy

00:11Center. I'm delighted to be here as we officially announce the incredibly talented artists who will

00:18be celebrated later this year at the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors. It's going to be a big evening.

00:27I've been asked to host. I said, I'm the president of the United States. Are you fools asking me to do

00:35that? Sir, you'll get much higher ratings. I said, I don't care. I'm president of the United States.

00:41I won't do it. They said, please. And then Susie Wells said to me, sir, I'd like to get a host. I said,

00:48okay, Susie, I'll do it. That's the power she's got. But I just, so I have agreed to host. Do you

00:55believe what I have to do? And I didn't want to do it. Okay. They're going to say he insisted.

01:00I did not insist, but I think it will be quite successful actually. This year, the board has

01:05selected a truly exceptional class of honorees. I mean, really exceptional. First is country music

01:13star actor and producer, George Strait. Great. Over an extraordinary four decade career, George has

01:28sold more than 120 million records worldwide, amassed 60 number one hits. Wow. And produced 33 platinum

01:38certified albums more than any other living American. That is amazing. And this man may be

01:45the most of all, Michael Crawford is being honored. Michael was born in England in 1942. He made his Broadway

01:57debut in 1967. I was there. I shouldn't say that, but I was there. Seems like a long time ago. And he

02:08became an international sensation in the 1980s for his original portrayal of the phantom of the opera,

02:17one of the greatest ever, ever, ever, ever. Next, we look forward to honoring three-time Oscar nominee,

02:22Golden Globe Award winner, an action movie icon, and a friend of mine. He's a very unique man. He's

02:30somebody that doesn't do these things. A real talent, never been given the credit for the talent. There

02:38was nobody else could have done the roles that he did like he did. I'm not even close. And they've

02:42tried, and they didn't work out too well. His name is Sylvester Stallone. Fourth, we'll be

02:51together celebrating one of the most revered singers of the American disco era, Gloria Gaynor.

03:00Best known for her chart-topping 1978 hit, I Will Survive. Gloria won the 1980 Grammy for best disco

03:15recording, and her song was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2016, four decades

03:22later. And finally, we'll be honoring one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Kiss.

03:28So, Kiss was formed in 1973 in New York City by founding band members, and incredible people,

03:41by the way, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Fraley, and Peter Criss. Kiss became a global phenomenon,

03:53sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and produced 30 gold albums,

03:58and lots of other things they produced. They made a fortune. And they're great people,

04:04and they deserve it, and they work hard, and they're still working hard, and it's an honor

04:09to present Chris, Kiss. Thank you very much. Got it? Yeah. Thank you.

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