WASHINGTON — “I’m the president, but he’s The Boss.”
With those words, President Barack Obama greeted Bruce Springsteen on Sunday night at a White House reception before the iconic rocker was lauded with Kennedy Center Honors, along with Robert De Niro, comic genius Mel Brooks, jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck and opera singer Grace Bumbry.
A surprise list of stars performed for the artists who received the honors that recognize individuals who have defined American culture through the arts as a living memorial to former President John Kennedy.
The night attracted power players from Washington and Hollywood, including the president, first lady Michelle Obama, who was seated next to Springsteen, and Vice President Joe Biden.
About 300 guests, including Jack Black, Edward Norton, Matthew Broderick, Ben Stiller, Martin Scorsese, Sting and Philip Seymour Hoffman were at the reception in the East Room of the White House.
“These performers are indeed the best,” Obama said. “They are also living reminders of a single truth — and I’m going to steal a line from Michelle here — the arts are not somehow apart from our national life; the arts are the heart of our national life.”
State Department officials would not say whether security for the Saturday event had been heightened after a Virginia couple recently sneaked into a White House state dinner.
Carol Burnett led a series of toasts at a more private celebration for the honorees Saturday after a dinner for about 200 hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Several of the honorees, Clinton said, have been at the forefront of cultural diplomacy. Brubeck, who turned 89 on Sunday, was sent abroad in the Cold War, she said, to serve as an ambassador with his music in countries teetering between democracy and communism.
And Springsteen played a rock concert in East Berlin for 160,000 people 16 months before the Berlin Wall fell — a concert many Germans remember 20 years later, Clinton said.
Brooks, 83, said it’s special to receive the honor during the Obama administration. He said he’ll whisper something in the president’s ear about the need for more federal funding for the arts.
“I think when all my awards go to eBay, it will be the last,” Brooks said of the Kennedy Center medallion. “That’s how much I treasure it.”
Gate crashers
