Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and rockers the Grateful Dead are among this year’s Kennedy Center Honors inductees, along with beloved blues singer Bonnie Raitt and jazz artist Arturo Sandoval. The Apollo - the globally celebrated Harlem music venue that launched myriad careers and bore witness to sociocultural revolution - will receive a special honor as an iconic US institution, organizers announced. The annual Kennedy Center Honors, among the highest American arts honors, see Washington’s political elite rub shoulders with the cream of the cultural crop as entertainment A-listers descend on the seat of American political power.

The gala is a fundraiser for the performing arts center in Washington that serves as a living monument to the late president John F. Kennedy. This year the celebration is scheduled for December 8. Coppola - the esteemed filmmaker behind classics including “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now” - said in a statement he considers himself “very fortunate to have been able to collaborate with great artist and wonderful people.” “I have never stopped learning,” he continued. “There is no greater honor than to be included along with those who inspired me, who I looked up to, and who gave me encouragement when times were dim.”

US singer Bonnie Raitt arrives for the 2022 Billboard Women in Music award at the YouTube theatre at SoFi stadium in Inglewood, California, March 2, 2022. --AFP photos

US director Francis Ford Coppola arrives for the screening of the film "Megalopolis" at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 16, 2024.

Cuban-US trumpeter Arturo Sandoval attends the Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter Grammy nominees celebration at Spring Place in Beverly Hills, California, on January 28, 2023.

Band members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bobby Weir will receive the prize for The Grateful Dead, an American treasure of a band famous for eclectic live improv and connections to psychedelia. Jerry Garcia, the beloved lead guitarist, band co-founder, songwriter and singer widely considered the leader of the Grateful Dead, died in 1995 at age 53. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the year before.

“Our music has always been about exploration and breaking through or finding our way around barriers, not just musically but also in bringing people together,” the band said in a statement. “The energy, the love, the connection and sharing - once again, that’s what it’s all about.” “As we enter our 60th year of the Grateful Dead’s journey in 2025, we’re beyond grateful for this recognition and for the journey we are on together.” And The Apollo - which turns 90 this year - is the first organization ever honored at the Kennedy Center Awards, a marker of its influence on contemporary culture. — AFP