MUMBAI: Blues legend Buddy Guy and rock pioneer Led Zeppelin are among those artists who will receive the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors.
The artists join media personality David Letterman, actor Dustin Hoffman and ballerina Natalia Makarova who will also be honoured, the performing arts centre announced yesterday.
"Buddy Guy is a titan of the blues and has been a tremendous influence on virtually everyone who has picked up an electric guitar in the last half century, and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant transformed the sound of rock & roll with their lyricism and innovative song structures, infusing blues into the sound of rock & roll and laying the foundation for countless rock bands," said Kennedy Center chairman David M Rubenstein in a press statement.
Though Zeppelin will receive the honour as a band, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant will each receive the recognition. The band will be celebrated for transforming the sound of rock and roll and influencing other artists with blues-infused hits such as Stairway to Heaven.
Zeppelin issued a joint statement saying America was the first place to embrace their music. "We owe a large debt to the vitality and variety of the music of the American people," they added.
The award is the nation's highest honour for those who have influenced American culture through the arts. It comes with a dinner with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and a reception hosted by President Barack Obama. The honourees will be saluted by fellow artists on 2 Dec in a show to be broadcast on 26 Dec on CBS.
In television, Letterman's unconventional wit and charm has made him "one of the most influential personalities," Rubenstein said.