Gloria Estefan Will Host Kennedy Center Honors

Multi-Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and actress Gloria Estefan will host the 41st Annual Kennedy Center Honors, on Sunday, December 2, 2018. The Honors Gala will be recorded for broadcast on the CBS Television Network for the 41st year as a two-hour primetime special on Wednesday, December 26 (8:00-10:00 pm., ET/PT). This will be Estefan's first time hosting the special. She received a Kennedy Center Honors in 2017.

As previously announced, the recipients of the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors will be singer and actress Cher, composer and pianist Philip Glass, Country music entertainer Reba McEntire, and jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter. This year, the co-creators of Hamilton-writer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, and music director Alex Lacamoire-will receive a unique Kennedy Center Honors as trailblazing creators of a groundbreaking work.

In a star-studded celebration on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage on Sunday, December 2, the 2018 Honorees will be saluted by today's leading performers from New York, Hollywood, and the arts capitals of the world, accepting the recognition and gratitude of their peers through performances and tributes.

The Honors recipients are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts-whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures, or television-and are confirmed by the executive committee of the Center's board of trustees. The primary criterion in the selection process is excellence. The Honors are not designated by art form or category of artistic achievement; over the years, the selection process has produced a balance among the various arts and artistic disciplines.

International superstar Gloria Estefan is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, actress, author, philanthropist, and humanitarian. Estefan has received seven Grammy Awards, an Oscar nomination, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement, an induction into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame, an Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and a National Artistic Achievement Award from the U.S. Congress. In 2016, President Obama honored Emilio and Gloria Estefan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor presented to individuals who have made meritorious contributions to the United States, world peace, and cultural endeavors.

On Your Feet! The Musical-the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical based on the lives and music of Emilio and Gloria Estefan and executive produced by the pair-is the story of two people who, through an unwavering dedication to one another and their pursuit of the American dream, showcase their talent, music, and heritage to the world in a remarkable rise to global superstardom. Since the show's opening, On Your Feet! The Musical has received rave critical reviews, as well as nominations for Tony Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, and Drama League Awards.

With more than 100 million records sales worldwide, Estefan, along with her husband Emilio, are also successful entrepreneurs, owning and operating several businesses, including a globally recognized music publishing company and a hospitality division with seven restaurants and two hotels (the Cardozo Hotel on South Beach and Costa d'Este Beach Resort in Vero Beach). The Estefans are also the first Cuban-American couple to own a minority share in a major NFL franchise, the Miami Dolphins.

Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry Entertainment will executive produce the special for the fourth consecutive year. Also, Weiss returns as director.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos