Well, look who is taking a midnight train to Washington, D.C. Gladys Knight, the legendary soul and R&B singer, will be among the honorees at the 45th Kennedy Center Honors on December 4, according to a press release. Other honorees include actor and Nespresso salesman George Clooney, Christian-music fixture Amy Grant, Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Tania León, and the members of the Irish rock band U2. The real excitement for those of us who are not lucky enough to attend the Kennedy Center Honors is that they will be later aired on PBS, although the date is not yet released. In the meantime, we’ll just rewatch Gladys Knight perform at last year’s Kennedy Center Honors, while honoring Garth Brooks, though we’re also excited to see her with a rainbow medal on this year.
“I’m humbled beyond words to be included amongst this prestigious group of individuals, both past and present,†said Knight in the press release. “You could never have told me as a young girl starting my career that I would be honored on a stage such as this, with artists and humanitarians such as these — it just wouldn’t have seemed possible. It would have been the dream of all dreams.†Clooney stated in his response, “This is a genuinely exciting surprise for the whole Clooney family.†Congrats to Amal, but she’ll have to marry someone else to get invited to next year’s Kennedy Davenport Center Honors.