President Donald J. Trump has announced the first Kennedy Center Honors recipients since he took over, earlier this year, as the chair of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. President Trump selected country musician George Strait, rock band Kiss, disco icon Gloria Gaynor, British actor Michael Crawford, and American film star Sylvester Stallone. The president has said that he plans to host the annual Kennedy Center Honors ceremony in December.
Gaynor is best known for “I Will Survive,” the 1978 single that is considered an anthem of the gay rights movement. Her selection comes as the Trump administration enacts policies that have endangered transgender people and limited resources for LGBTQ people. When announcing Gaynor’s selection, Trump called “I Will Survive” an “unbelievable song.”
Kiss is fronted by a longtime Trump supporter in Gene Simmons. The musician also appeared on Trump’s reality series, The Apprentice, in 2008. Still, as Rolling Stone notes, Simmons has criticized Trump at times, as has Kiss’ Paul Stanley. Sylvester Stallone, in contrast, has shown strong support for Donald Trump.
Learn more about Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center in “Yasmin Williams on Her ‘Shocking’ Email Exchange With New Kennedy Center President: ‘He’s Clearly Unhinged.’”
