Reba McEntire To Be Among 2018 Kennedy Center Honors Recipients

Reba McEntire at the 27th Annual Kennedy Center Honors at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2014. Photo: Kris Connor/Getty Images North America

Reba McEntire has been announced among the distinguished honorees at the 41st Annual Kennedy Center Honors. Additional honorees include Cher, pianist Philip Glass, jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter, co-creators of Hamilton—writer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, and music director Alex Lacamoire—receiving the unique Kennedy Center Honors as trailblazing creators of a transformative work that defies category.

2018 honorees will be presented at a star-studded celebration on Sun., Dec. 2. at the Washington DC Opera House, broadcast nationwide on CBS on Wed., Dec. 26 at 8 p.m. ET.

“The Kennedy Center Honors recognizes exceptional artists who have made enduring and indelible marks on our culture,” stated Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein.

“The world looks to America for its creative instincts and artistic courage,” said Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter. “This year’s slate of Honorees represents the pinnacle of our nation’s originality and the rich mosaic of diverse perspectives and art forms that has come to define who we are as a people.”

Previous country music honorees include Merle Haggard, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Roy Acuff.