Paul Anka, David Foster, Andy Garcia, David Mamet and Barbara Mandrell will receive the 2026 Kennedy Center Honors, the Kennedy Center announced on Monday. The five artists make up the 49th class of the annual lifetime achievement award, which has recognized performers and creators since 1978. The ceremony will take place on December 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
The venue is a change from past years. The 2026 Kennedy Center Honors will be the first edition staged outside the Kennedy Center itself, after the building closed for renovations. The move to the arena gives the event a larger room, and it follows a dispute over the building and its name. A host and a television broadcaster had not been named when the class was announced.
The announcement came in a press release, a quieter route than last year, when President Donald Trump announced the honorees at a live press event. The release carried a quote from Trump: "We are recognizing amazing artists whose lifelong work has shaped American culture and inspired generations of audiences." CBS carried the ceremony every year from 1978 through 2025, and its agreement ended after last year's broadcast.
Kennedy Center Honors move to a new stage
The Kennedy Center Honors began at the Kennedy Center Opera House, and the ceremony stayed there for decades. This year, the show moves to Capital One Arena, a sports and concert venue in downtown Washington. Reports from the Associated Press said the center's main building remains closed while renovation plans and a dispute over its name continue.
No host had been announced by Monday afternoon, and no broadcaster had been confirmed either. That leaves two open questions for viewers who want to watch the December 7 event at home. The date matches last year's ceremony, which also took place on December 7. The Kennedy Center Honors remain the center's most visible annual event, and the 2026 class spans music, film, television and theatre, with ages ranging from Garcia, 70, to Anka, 85.
The five Kennedy Center Honors recipients
Paul Anka, a singer and songwriter born in Canada, built a career that began in the 1950s and stretched across decades of pop music. He wrote songs that other singers turned into hits, and he kept performing long after his first chart success. David Foster, also born in Canada, worked as a composer and producer with a long list of recording artists, and his work covers pop, film and television music.
Andy Garcia, born in Cuba, received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actor for The Godfather Part III. His film work includes The Untouchables and the Ocean's series, and he has also directed. Garcia is the fourth Cuban-born artist to receive the honor, according to reports on the announcement. David Mamet, a playwright, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Glengarry Glen Ross, and his plays and screenplays have been staged and filmed for decades.
Barbara Mandrell, 77, is the country singer in the class. Her hits include "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" and "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool." She is the fourth female country artist to receive the honor, after Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire. Mandrell was also the only woman inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, according to reports on her career.
Reactions and what happens next
Mandrell was the first of the five Kennedy Center Honors recipients to react in public. She wrote on social media: "Receiving the Kennedy Center Honors is one of the greatest honors of my life. Country music has been a gift to me, and I am humbled that the songs and performances we shared continue to mean something to people." The other honorees had not issued public statements by Monday afternoon, according to the Associated Press account of the announcement.
The Kennedy Center Honors announcement came later in the year than usual. Last year's class was announced on August 13, 2025, while this year's names arrived in early November, about five weeks before the ceremony. That short gap leaves organizers less time to confirm a host, a broadcast partner and the tribute performances that usually fill the evening.
Each honoree is normally celebrated with performances by other artists, along with short films about their work. The center has not said how those tributes will be staged in an arena, or whether the format will change with the venue. Tickets and broadcast details are still to come, and the center said the December 7 date stands. For now, the five names are set, and the 2026 Kennedy Center Honors will mark the first time the event takes place away from the building that gives it its name.