Kiss, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, George Strait, and English actor Michael Crawford will receive the Kennedy Center Honors at a Donald Trump-hosted ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 8.
This is the first Kennedy Center Honors since President Donald Trump took over as chairman of the prestigious Kennedy Center earlier this year. His first action was removing Biden-era appointees from the board and stacking it with loyalists. At a board meeting in March, he said that things were going to change with him in charge.
“We’ll go slightly more conservative, if you don’t mind, with some of the people,” he said. “There are people out there that would not be considered that are much bigger stars than the ones that were being honored … In the past, I mean, these are radical left lunatics that have been chosen. I didn’t like it. I couldn’t watch it. And the host was always terrible.”
Trump announced the 2025 honorees today as well as his plans to host the gala at a press conference where he proclaimed, “We ended the woke political programming, and we’re restoring the Kennedy Center as the premier venue for performing arts anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world. We have some unbelievable plans.”
During his first administration, Trump broke longtime tradition and didn’t attend the yearly Kennedy Center Honors. The move came after Norman Lear and other honorees said they wouldn’t attend if he was in the house. “As an artist and a human being, I cannot celebrate this incredible honor at a White House that has no interest in supporting the arts and humanities,” Lear told NPR.
It’s unlikely that Strait will react in the same fashion. The country icon largely keeps his political views to himself, but he broke out Trump’s distinct dance move at a December 2024 show in Las Vegas to roars of approval from the audience.
Stallone, meanwhile, is an avowed Trump booster. “When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world,” Stallone said in December 2024 when appearing at an event with Trump. “‘Cause without him, you can imagine what the world would look like. Guess what, we got the second George Washington … We’re in the presence of a really mythical character … Nobody in the world could’ve pulled off what he pulled off, so I’m in awe.”
Trump returned the love when announcing the new Kennedy Center Honors class. “[Stallone] is a very special guy,” he said today. “A real talent. Never been given the credit for the talent. There was nobody else that could have done the roles that he did like he did them. Not even close. They’ve tried, and they didn’t work out too well … I’ll never forget I was a young guy and I went to see a thing called Rambo and it had just come out. I didn’t know anything about it — and I said, this movie is phenomenal. What the heck? And that turned out to be a monster.”
As for Gaynor’s inclusion, Trump said, “I will say that ‘I Will Survive’ is an unbelievable song.” Trump added that he was “98 percent involved” in the selection process for this year’s honorees.
Gene Simmons of Kiss is one of rock’s most famous conservative voices, and he was a cast member on The Apprentice in 2008, but he’s not a Trump supporter. “I knew him before he entered politics,” he told Spin in 2022. “Look what that gentleman did to this country and the polarization — got all the cockroaches to rise to the top. Once upon a time, you were embarrassed to be publicly racist and out there with conspiracy theories. Now it’s all out in the open because he allowed it … I don’t think he’s a Republican or a Democrat. He’s out for himself, any way you can get there.”
Despite this, and other critical things the members of Kiss have said about Trump over the years, all four members of the band released statements saying they were proud of the honor.
“From our earliest days, KISS has embodied the American ideal that all things are possible and that hard work pays off,” Paul Stanley said. “The prestige of the Kennedy Center Honors cannot be overstated and I accept this on behalf of the long legacy of KISS and all of the band members who helped create our iconic band.”
Gene Simmons added: “KISS is the embodiment of the American dream. We are deeply honored to receive the Kennedy Center Honor.”
“Coming from my humble beginnings growing up in The Bronx, this honor is a dream come true that I never thought would materialize,” Ace Frehley said in his statement. “All I can say is it’s beyond my wildest dreams, and I am very honored and grateful to be including with the rest of the honorees.”
“I feel so blessed this is the greatest honor of our career,” said Peter Criss.
If all four of them attend the ceremony in December, it’ll be the first time they’ve appeared together since their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2014.