Canadian music figures Paul Anka and David Foster have been named among this year's recipients of the Kennedy Center honours, one of the most prestigious recognitions in American performing arts. The ceremony is set for Dec. 7, though it will not take place at the Kennedy Center itself because of legal battles that have emerged during Donald Trump's second term as president.
Joining Anka and Foster in this year's class are actor Andy Garcia, director and playwright David Mamet and country music star Barbara Mandrell. "We are proud to honour this year's class and to continue a tradition that has defined the Center for nearly 50 years," Trump said in a statement.
Anka, 85, has spent roughly eight decades in show business. Born in Ottawa to Lebanese parents, he got his start in local talent shows and on CBC programs such as Pick the Stars and Cross-Canada Hit Parade before his song Diana reached No. 1 on the U.S. charts in 1957. He went on to record hits including Lonely Boy and Put Your Head on My Shoulder, and he wrote songs that became signature works for others, among them Buddy Holly's It Doesn't Matter Anymore, Johnny's Theme for Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, and My Way, recorded by hundreds of artists and most famously by Frank Sinatra.
"After 70 years of doing what I love and being a part of the fabric of the American culture, I am humbled to receive this prestigious honour," said Anka, who still performs internationally, in a social media post on Monday.
Foster, a Victoria native who turned 77 on Sunday, played in bands across Canada before joining the British Columbia group Skylark, which scored a Top 10 Billboard hit with Wildflower in 1973. After the band broke up, he built a towering career as a studio musician and producer, crafting hits for Earth, Wind and Fire, Chicago and Whitney Houston. His production of Houston's version of Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You spent a then-record 14 weeks atop the Billboard chart beginning in late 1992. He also helped produce early work outside Canada for Céline Dion and Michael Bublé.
The two Canadians share a long history. Anka helped Foster secure a U.S. green card in the 1970s, the pair have occasionally collaborated musically, and Anka performed My Way at Foster's Canada's Walk of Fame ceremony in 2002. Both are dual Canada-U.S. citizens, members of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and officers of the Order of Canada. They will join Joni Mitchell and Lorne Michaels as the only Canadians honoured by the Kennedy Center since the awards began in 1978.
The other honorees bring distinguished records of their own. Cuban-born Garcia, 70, broke through in 1987's The Untouchables, earned an Oscar nomination for The Godfather Part III, played the casino boss in Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, and recently appeared in Taylor Sheridan's series Landman. Chicago native Mamet, 78, is an acclaimed playwright known for Glengarry Glen Ross and American Buffalo, both adapted for film, with screenwriting credits including The Verdict and The Untouchables and directing work on House of Games, Oleanna and State and Main. Mamet has also been vocal about his conservative politics, telling Fox News last year he was once a "brain-dead liberal." Mandrell, 77, is a Country Music Hall of Fame member whose hits include Years and Sleeping Single in a Double Bed, and who frequently performed with her sisters Louise and Irlene while hosting country variety and awards shows.
The honours have been awarded to a wide range of artists since 1978, and until Trump's first term, presidents of both parties traditionally attended the annual ceremony even when they disagreed with an honoree's politics. In his second term, Trump fired the institution's board and installed loyalists who named him chairman, prompting a number of performers to cancel events or sever ties with the venue over what they saw as its politicization. Trump personally announced last year's honorees, a group that included Sylvester Stallone, KISS, Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, and hosted the show.
The president has also insisted that his name be added to the building in some form, despite the venue having been designated by President Lyndon Johnson and Congress as a memorial to assassinated president John F. Kennedy. Legal fights have also arisen over repairs needed for the Potomac River waterfront building, which has been closed for months without performances. As a result, this year's program will unfold at Capital One Arena, the downtown Washington home of the NHL's Capitals and the NBA's Wizards.
