{"id":811785,"date":"2026-08-13T02:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T02:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/811785\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T02:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T02:34:09","slug":"bette-midler-to-receive-prestigious-honor-previously-awarded-to-bruce-springsteen-kris-kristofferson-and-john-mellencamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/811785\/","title":{"rendered":"Bette Midler to Receive Prestigious Honor Previously Awarded to Bruce Springsteen, Kris Kristofferson, and John Mellencamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bette Midler will soon receive a major honor. The Woody Guthrie Center\u00a0recently announced<\/a> that they have selected the legendary entertainer as the 2026 Woody Guthrie Prize recipient.<\/p>\n

The Woody Guthrie Prize honors artists who exemplify Guthrie\u2019s spirit and legacy. They do so by speaking out through music, film, literature, dance and other art forms. At the same time, recipients serve as a positive force for social change. Past recipients include Kris Kristofferson, John Mellencamp, and Bruce Springsteen.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tVideos by American Songwriter\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so honored to have been chosen to receive the Woody Guthrie Prize this year,\u201d Midler said. \u201cI loved his music, and I loved the way he lived his life, always seeking to spread the word that justice could and should be served and that every American, no matter what their station, deserved a fair shake in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis integrity, his honesty and his moral compass inspired me and countless others to climb aboard his train, and to live our lives dedicated to the principles he taught us through his songs,\u201d she continued. \u201cIn this world, there are the powerful and the powerless. He spoke to and for the powerless, turning the rough, bleeding edges of American life into a grand, ragged opera.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bette Midler Speaks Out About Receiving the 2026 Woody Guthrie Prize<\/p>\n

Midler further noted that \u201cto receive an honor bearing the name of a man who fought the giants with nothing but a guitar and a clean conscience is a humbling thing, and it serves as a stark reminder that a writer\u2019s true business is always to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe struggle for fairness and justice never ends,\u201d she added. \u201cHe is one of the greatest Americans we were ever lucky enough to have among us to light the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for her favorite Guthrie song, Midler selected his 1940 track \u201cI Ain\u2019t Got No Home in This World Anymore<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a snapshot of a certain time in America; a cold, hard wind howling through a boxcar door, a fierce and lonely whistle blown in the face of an indifferent world, an anthem of the dispossessed,\u201d she explained. \u201cI love it because it doesn\u2019t ask for pity. It just states the facts, paints the story of the migrant and the outcast with unmatched clarity, and reminds us that in his day and ours, beneath the neon lights and boosterism, there is always a shadow army of the forgotten and Woody Guthrie was their ultimate, uncompromising scribe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woody Guthrie\u2019s Daughter Praises Bette Midler<\/p>\n

Guthrie\u2019s family expressed excitement about Midler\u2019s selection. The late musician\u2019s daughter, Nora Guthrie, celebrated Midler\u2019s ability to \u201cbring joy, laughter and love to the Good Fight!\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAlways on the side of people that are historically unseen or ignored, Bette brings all of them to our attention,\u201d she added. \u201cUsing everything she\u2019s got\u2014a song, a dance, a film, a good joke\u2014all her talents are directed towards one goal, to support the often precarious lives of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Midler will officially receive her award at the 2026 Woody Guthrie Prize event, which will take place on Oct. 16 at the historic Cain\u2019s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma. <\/p>\n

The fundraiser will feature remarks from Cady Shaw, who is the Senior Director of the Woody Guthrie Center. Members of the Guthrie family will also speak. <\/p>\n

Additionally, Midler will sit down for an intimate conversation with music journalist Rona Elliot. The evening will conclude with a special solo acoustic performance by rising country star Bryan Andrews.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted to recognize Bette Midler with the 2026 Woody Guthrie Prize and celebrate not only her remarkable artistic achievements, but also her enduring commitment to creating a more just, more inclusive and more hopeful world, just like Woody,\u201d Shaw said. \u201cHer participation in this event, our most important fundraiser of the year, will ensure our educational programs, events and exhibits remain possible and accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo by JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bette Midler will soon receive a major honor. The Woody Guthrie Center\u00a0recently announced that they have selected the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[123174,88,216,17172,72996],"class_list":["post-811785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-bette-midler","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-pop-music","tag-woody-guthrie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}