Queen Latifah first female rapper chosen as Kennedy Center honoree
Queen Latifah attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on March 27
By Marianne Garvey, CNN
(CNN) — The 2023 Kennedy Center honorees have been announced.
The show will take place on Dec. 3, at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C., and will broadcast later that month on CBS.
The honorees include comedian and host Billy Crystal, soprano Renée Fleming, singer-songwriter-producer Barry Gibb, rapper, singer and actress Queen Latifah and singer Dionne Warwick. Latifah is the first female rapper to be honored at the prestigious ceremony.
The event will also include a 50th anniversary salute to hip-hop.
“This year we pay special tribute to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, a uniquely American culture whose constant evolution is one of enduring relevance and impact, reflecting our society as it has grown into an international phenomenon,” Deborah F. Rutter, president of the Kennedy Center, said in a statement. “Hip-hop has been an important, thriving art form here at the Center for a number of years; what a privilege it is to bestow an Honors to the First Lady of Hip-Hop [Queen Latifah] who has inspired us along the way.”
Gloria Estefan, a 2017 Kennedy Center honoree, will host this year’s show.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
