Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor & More Named 2025 Kennedy Center Honorees

The Kennedy Center has officially announced the honorees for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors, an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The ceremony will take place on Sunday, December 7, 2025, and will be hosted by Kennedy Center Chairman and U.S. President Donald Trump. CBS will broadcast the Honors at a later date.

The honorees include Tony Award-winning performer Michael Crawford (The Phantom of the Opera), actor/writer Sylvester Stallone (Broadway's Rocky), country music star George Strait, disco and gospel artist Gloria Gaynor, and rock band KISS. 

This marks the first Kennedy Center Honors under the new Trump administration. Since returning to office, the President has taken a personal interest in his new role as chairman of the American institution. He stepped into the position in February, after dismissing several board members. This year’s selected Honorees were chosen based on the recommendation of the Center’s Special Honors Advisory Committee. 

CBS will air the ceremony, continuing a tradition that began in 1978. According to Deadline, the network’s current broadcast rights are set to expire after this year’s event, with no new agreement announced. 

The President previously teased the announcement on Monday, also hinting at his ongoing hopes to rename the center after himself. "Tremendous work is being done, and money being spent, on bringing it back to the absolute TOP LEVEL of luxury, glamour, and entertainment," said Trump in a post on Truth Social. A recent House committee vote advanced a proposal to also rename its Opera House after First Lady Melania Trump.

Best known for originating the title role in The Phantom of the Opera in the original London and Broadway productions, Michael Crawford has earned numerous awards, including Broadway's Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and the Los Angeles Dramalogue Award and Drama Critics Award. After opening in Phantom on October 9, 1986, he was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen, as well as receiving his second Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

In 2024, Honorees for the 47th Annual Kennedy Center Honors included the legendary American rock band the Grateful Dead (Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, the late Phil Lesh, Bobby Weir), blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Bonnie Raitt, jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composer Arturo Sandoval and The Apollo, which received a special Honors as an iconic American institution.

Past Broadway honorees include Leonard Bernstein, Agnes De Mille, Julie Andrews, Angela Lansbury, Chita Rivera, Carol Burnett, Mel Brooks, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim, and many more. 

Photo Credit: Linda Lenzi