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Five Artists Receive Kennedy Center Honors


Rossiyaparast kuchlar, Debaltseve
Rossiyaparast kuchlar, Debaltseve
An actress, an opera singer, two musicians, and one singer/musician have received the 36th annual Kennedy Centers Honors for lifetime achievement.

Shirley MacLaine, Martina Arroyo, Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, and Billy Joel were honored Sunday at the event. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama attended the celebration along with a slew of politicians and Hollywood glitterati.

The show will be broadcast on CBS on December 29.

Shirley MacLaine, whose stage and screen career spans six decades, has won an Oscar, an Emmy, and four Golden Globes.

Martina Arroyo discovered opera as a teenager growing up in Harlem and has performed in opera houses around the world.

Carlos Santana, a Mexican immigrant, has been playing the guitar since the 1960s and is known for his epic performance at Woodstock in 1969. In 2000, his album Supernatural won nine Grammys, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year.


Jazz musician Herbie Hancock, the winner of an Oscar and 14 Grammys, played a Mozart piano concert with the Chicago Symphony when he was 11. He is known for his funk and jazz fusion compositions.

Billy Joel is the piano man who has been serenading the public since the 1970s. A 6-time Grammy winner, Joel is one of the best-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide. He has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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