LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Last night in Washington, D.C., musicians paid tribute to Cuban American trumpet player Arturo Sandoval, one of this year's Kennedy Center honorees.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
FADEL: Joining Sandoval in this year's class of honorees, Bonnie Raitt, the Grateful Dead, Francis Ford Coppola and the Apollo Theater. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports.
ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: Julia Louis-Dreyfus emceed the tribute to Bonnie Raitt.
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JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS: When Bonnie Raitt recorded the opening line of John Prine's "Angel From Montgomery" in 1974, she sang these words - I am an old woman. She was not an old woman.
(LAUGHTER)
LOUIS-DREYFUS: She was 24.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ANGEL FROM MONTGOMERY")
BONNIE RAITT: (Singing) I am an old woman named after my mother. My old man has another child that's grown up.
BLAIR: Bonnie Raitt has a history with the Kennedy Center Honors. She attended the very first one in 1978, when her father, Broadway singer and actor John Raitt, performed for the composer Richard Rodgers. Years later, she performed at the tributes for Buddy Guy, and then again, for Mavis Staples. She says she can't believe it's her turn.
RAITT: My throat is just, you know, lumped up since I arrived because last night, I got to see how many of my peers that I put on the list - they said, on your wish list of who would you like to be part of paying tribute to you, they all showed up.
BLAIR: Showing gratitude from one artist to another is what the Kennedy Center Honors is all about. Thirty-year-old singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers wasn't born when the Grateful Dead started attracting tens of thousands of fans to their shows, but she admires the deep connection the band shares with its followers.
MAGGIE ROGERS: To then see an act like that be honored here tonight, it means so much for the capacity to interact with my own community or my own creativity as a younger artist.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FRIEND OF THE DEVIL")
GRATEFUL DEAD: (Singing) Set out running but I take my time. A friend of the devil is a friend of mine. If I get home before daylight, just might get some sleep tonight.
BLAIR: It was a true family affair for honoree Francis Ford Coppola, the five-time Academy Award-winner known for such epic films as "The Godfather," "Apocalypse Now" and "American Graffiti." The movie business is in the Coppola DNA.
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TALIA SHIRE: I first met Francis Coppola when I was born.
(LAUGHTER)
BLAIR: Talia Shire, Coppola's sister, talked about Francis getting polio when he was 9 years old. When he could finally use his hands, he would make puppets and create characters.
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SHIRE: And every day, he would tell me a story. And I think that was the beginning of Francis' great gift.
BLAIR: For the first time, one of the Kennedy Center honorees is an institution, the legendary Apollo, founded 90 years ago in Harlem. The War and Treaty paid tribute to one of the venue's performances, the last time Marvin Gaye sang with his longtime duet partner Tammi Terrell in 1969. Terrell died the following year.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SPECIAL, "47TH KENNEDY CENTER HONORS")
THE WAR AND TREATY: (Singing) Like sweet morning dew, I took one look at you, and it was plain to see you were my destiny. With arms opened wide, I threw away my pride. I'll sacrifice for you, dedicate my life to you. Oh.
BLAIR: The Kennedy Center Honors airs on CBS and streams on Paramount+ on December 22.
Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.
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THE WAR AND TREATY: (Singing) You'll be there to push me up the hill. There's no, no looking back for us... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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