President Trump\u2019s administration has made sweeping changes<\/a> to the Kennedy Center, including ousting the chairman of its board of trustees<\/a> and its president, and installing in their place Mr. Trump and one of his allies, former Ambassador Richard Grenell. Last week, the White House announced the board had voted to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s Kennedy Center Honors, which was recorded earlier this month, marks Mr. Trump\u2019s first appearance at the annual event in his two terms in office. He also hosted the celebration, a departure from past years when presidents would sit with the honorees and watch the show.<\/p>\n In a social media\u00a0post<\/a>\u00a0Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump promoted the broadcast, saying it will be \u201chonoring true GREATS in the History of Entertainment.\u201d He also wrote: \u201cTell me what you think of my \u2018Master of Ceremony\u2019 abilities. If really good, would you like me to leave the Presidency in order to make \u2018hosting\u2019 a full time job?\u201d<\/p>\n Who are the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors recipients?<\/p>\n Mr. Trump announced the list of this year\u2019s honorees<\/a> over the summer. They are:<\/p>\n George Strait How to watch the Kennedy Center Honors<\/p>\n What: President Trump hosts the Kennedy Center Honors, celebrating George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, Kiss, Michael Crawford and Sylvester Stallone. George Strait, the King of Country Music<\/p>\n With hits like \u201cAll My Ex\u2019s Live in Texas,\u201d \u201cAmarillo by Morning\u201d and \u201cCheck Yes or No,\u201d George Strait is known as the King of Country Music.<\/p>\n The multiplatinum artist has won dozens of awards from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association, as well as a Grammy for best country album. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006.<\/p>\n When Strait received a lifetime achievement award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 2021, he said his father taught him the ways of the cowboy life and that he\u2019s tried to hold on to his Western heritage throughout his career. But he also said he was challenged early on to stay true to himself.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first signed with MCA Records in 1981, you know, they, all the people, were going, \u2018Take the hat off,’\u201d he said, pointing at his trademark 10-gallon cowboy hat with a grin. \u201cNow, can you imagine if I would have done that?\u201d<\/p>\n A producer also floated the idea that Strait change his name. \u201cMy dad was so glad I didn\u2019t do that,\u201d Strait said.<\/p>\n Gloria Gaynor, the Queen of Disco<\/p>\n Gloria Gaynor<\/a>\u2018s 1978 hit \u201cI Will Survive\u201d has stood the test of time, surviving far longer than disco did and crowning the New Jersey singer as the genre\u2019s queen.<\/p>\n The song won a Grammy for best disco recording. When it was added to the Library of Congress\u2019 National Recording Registry<\/a> in 2016, the library said \u201cI Will Survive\u201d became known as an \u201cemblem of women\u2019s empowerment\u201d and an anthem in the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n \u201cThat song taps into the inherent survival instinct and it taps into the tenacity of the human spirit,\u201d Gaynor told CBS News in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n As she recalled recently, when she recorded the hit, she was paralyzed from the waist down while recovering from a serious spinal injury after a fall onstage.<\/p>\n \u201cI had been in hospital for over three months, hoping I\u2019d survive, you know, this trauma that I was going through, hoping that I\u2019d survive the fact that my mother had just passed away a few years prior,\u201d Gaynor said. \u201cYeah, I was living that song, and I was certain that I wouldn\u2019t be the only one.\u201d<\/p>\n Legendary rock band Kiss<\/p>\n This year\u2019s celebration is a bittersweet moment for the founding members of Kiss. Ace Frehley<\/a>, the band\u2019s original lead guitarist, died in October, just a few weeks after he, Peter Criss, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were named among this year\u2019s honorees.<\/p>\n \u201cThe saddest thing of all is that Ace couldn\u2019t live long enough to see this amazing thing,\u201d Simmons told CBS News.<\/p>\n Kiss is known as much for their hits like \u201cRock and Roll All Nite,\u201d \u201cI Was Made for Lovin\u2019 You\u201d and \u201cDetroit Rock City\u201d as they are for their signature black-and-white face paint. The group rode the glam rock wave to stardom, selling more than 100 million records worldwide and entering the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.<\/p>\n Simmons and Stanley\u2019s partnership has lasted for decades, overcoming the difficulties of making it in the music business.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a coincidence that both of us are Jewish and from immigrants who experienced the Holocaust,\u201d Stanley told CBS News. \u201cI think that innately we have inside us compassion for other people but also a sense of survival.\u201d<\/p>\n Tony winner Michael Crawford<\/p>\n Famed composer Andrew Lloyd Webber picked Michael Crawford to play the titular role in the long-running musical \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d when it first opened in London in 1986.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he played to me the overture, the hair stood up on the back of my neck,\u201d Crawford told CBS News. \u201cI adored playing and creating it, building him.\u201d<\/p>\n After winning an Olivier Award \u2014 the U.K. equivalent of the Tony Award \u2014 for musical of the year, the show opened on Broadway in New York in 1988, winning seven Tonys, including best actor in a musical for Crawford.<\/p>\n Crawford\u2019s career has also included roles in movies and on television, but he considered those to be auditions for his next part. For him, playing the Phantom was a gift.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, you want to do the eight shows a week,\u201d Crawford said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to miss one.\u201d<\/p>\n American icon Sylvester Stallone<\/p>\n
\nGloria Gaynor
\nThe rock band Kiss: Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss and the late Ace Frehley
\nMichael Crawford
\nSylvester Stallone<\/p>\n
\nDate: Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025
\nTime: 8 p.m. ET\/PT
\nOn TV: On CBS television stations. Find your local station here<\/a>.
\nOnline stream: Paramount+<\/a><\/p>\n![\"George](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/gettyimages-2250690929.jpg#.jpeg\")
George Strait attends the Kennedy Center Honors on Dec. 7, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Taylor Hill\/FilmMagic\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Gloria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/gettyimages-2250708302.jpg#.jpeg\")
Gloria Gaynor at the Kennedy Center Honors on Dec. 7, 2025. (Taylor Hill\/FilmMagic\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Gene](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/gettyimages-2250707707.jpg#.jpeg\")
Gene Simmons, Peter Criss and Paul Stanley of Kiss attend the Kennedy Center Honors on Dec. 7, 2025. (Taylor Hill\/FilmMagic\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/gettyimages-2250627427.jpg#.jpeg\")
Michael Crawford attends the Kennedy Center Honors on Dec. 7, 2025. (Shannon Finney\/WireImage\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
![\"Sylvester](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/gettyimages-2250708878.jpg#.jpeg\")
Sylvester Stallone attends the Kennedy Center Honors on Dec. 7, 2025. (Taylor Hill\/FilmMagic\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/kennedy-center-medallions-1.jpg#.jpeg\")
A graphic shows the new Kennedy Center Honors medallions for George Strait, Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor and Sylvester Stallone. (Tiffany and Co.)<\/p>\n