HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES -- The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced its next group of honorees on Thursday.
The longtime American rock band, Grateful Dead, is one of the five honorees chosen to be celebrated for a lifetime of artistic achievements. The Kennedy Center says the band has been a social and cultural phenomenon since 1965, with a fan culture like no other.
Bonnie Raitt is also being honored - another force in music. She says she knows the ceremony will be one of her life's peak experiences. With the various musical genres she's embraced over the years, the Kennedy Center says Raitt has made us love her again and again.
The Kennedy Center will also recognize Oscar-winning director and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval, and New York City's iconic Apollo Theater.
The ceremony raises money for the Kennedy Center while recognizing artists who have played a key role in the development of American culture. The annual event is slated for Sunday, Dec. 8.