Gloria Estefan to Host CBS ‘Kennedy Center Honors’

Music Superstar Gloria Estefan will host the 41st annual Kennedy Center Honors, airing on Wednesday, December 26 at 8:00 p.m. on CBS. This will be Estefan’s first time hosting the special. She received a Kennedy Center Honors in 2017.

“Gloria Estefan is everything you want in a host for this celebration of the arts. She is herself a Kennedy Center Honoree,” said Jack Sussman, Executive Vice President, Specials, Music and Live Events, CBS Entertainment. “Gloria is a Grammy winner, a Broadway producer and one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of this or any generation. On top of it all, she is a caring, beautiful human who is smart, funny and can lead the Conga line out of the Kennedy Center at the conclusion of the night’s festivities.”

In a star-studded celebration on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage on 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.

The class of 2018 Kennedy Center honorees is singer and actress Cher, composer and pianist Philip Glass, country music superstar Reba McEntire and jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter. 

“Hamilton” Co-Creators Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, Andy Blankenbuehler and Alex Lacamoire will receive a special Kennedy Center Honors for Groundbreaking Work. 

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, showcased 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 and nominations for Tony Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards and Drama League Awards.

With over 100 million records sales worldwide, Estefan and 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.