Coppola, Grateful Dead, Apollo among Kennedy Center Honorees

WASHINGTON

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 U.S. institution, organizers announced on July 18.

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 Dec. 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."

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.

"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," the band said in a statement.

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.