WASHINGTON — When the Beatles were storming America, Oprah Winfrey had the band’s poster on her bedroom wall, Merle Haggard was free from prison, Jerry Herman was making Broadway sing and Bill T. Jones was not yet a dancer but growing up in a migrant labor camp.
On Sunday, these leading artists who followed divergent paths since the 1960s joined Paul McCartney to receive the Kennedy Center Honors, the nation’s top prize for those who define U.S. culture through the arts. They heard accolades from President Barack Obama.
“Although the honorees on this stage each possess a staggering amount of talent, the truth is, they aren’t being recognized tonight simply because of their careers as great lyricists or songwriters or dancers or entertainers,” Obama said. “Instead, they’re being honored for their unique ability to bring us closer together and to capture something larger about who we are — not just as Americans, but as human beings.”
