Kiss, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor and George Strait Receive Medals at the White House Ahead of Kennedy Center Honors
On Saturday afternoon, the White House hosted a formal medal presentation for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors recipients, recognizing a group of cultural figures whose careers have influenced entertainment, popular music, and American performing arts. President Donald Trump presented the Tiffany & Co. designed medals during a small ceremony in the Oval Office, attended by the honorees, family members, and select guests.
The recipients: rock band Kiss, country legend George Strait, disco icon Gloria Gaynor, Broadway actor Michael Crawford, and actor-director Sylvester Stallone, will be celebrated publicly on Sunday during the annual Kennedy Center gala in Washington, D.C. The televised event is scheduled to air Dec. 23 on CBS and stream on Paramount+.
Standing before the five honorees, President Trump introduced the group as “icons whose work and accomplishments have inspired and unified millions of Americans across generations.” He said the performers collectively represented “exceptional contributions to American entertainment” while highlighting their enduring impact on film, theater, pop, rock, and country music.
Kiss members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss accepted medals in person, while a posthumous medal for original guitarist Ace Frehley was received by his daughter. The band’s honor reflects decades of commercial success and cultural visibility, from their 1970s baroque stage productions to their long-standing brand identity and merchandising empire.
Stallone, known for the Rocky and Rambo franchises, was recognized for his multi-decade film career as both actor and filmmaker. The president referred to Stallone’s film work as “some of the greatest movies ever made,” emphasizing his role as a defining figure in American action cinema.
Gaynor, widely credited as one of disco’s essential vocalists, received the medal for contributions that helped shape the 1970s dance era and for the global endurance of her signature track “I Will Survive,” a song reinterpreted across political, personal, and cultural contexts for more than four decades. During the ceremony, the president remarked on Gaynor’s distinctive stage presence and long career.
Strait, one of the top-selling country musicians of the past 40 years, was also honored for his expansive catalog and continuing influence in the genre.
Crawford, best known for his performance in The Phantom of the Opera, received the final medal for contributions to musical theater and for helping to define contemporary Broadway vocal standards as both actor and singer.
While the honorees received their medals in a private ceremony, the Kennedy Center gala on Sunday arrives during a period of ongoing public scrutiny for the performing arts institution. In recent years, the Center has faced organizational challenges tied to funding, governance, and event security, though the annual honors gala remains one of the venue’s most visible national broadcasts.
President Trump is set to attend and host portions of the televised gala, a rare direct presidential presence in recent Kennedy Center history, and predicted during Saturday’s ceremony that the event would draw the highest ratings the broadcast has ever received. Previous Kennedy Center Honors have typically aired in late December and draw millions of viewers across networks and streaming platforms.
First presented in 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors celebrate lifetime artistic achievement across music, performance, theater, dance, and film. The awards are considered one of the United States’ most prestigious cultural distinctions, historically recognizing figures such as Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Paul McCartney, Meryl Streep, Bob Dylan, Beyoncé, and Tom Hanks.
This year’s honorees join that legacy at a moment when the role of live performance continues to evolve after the pandemic era and as artists negotiate changing media and touring environments. Their achievements reflect both commercial success and cultural influence, with decades of recordings, stage performances, and film releases continuing to circulate worldwide.
