Kennedy Center Honors 2026: Paul Anka, Barbara Mandrell and More

Get ready for a night of "My Way," "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" and a whole lot of standing ovations. The Kennedy Center announced on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, that singer-songwriter Paul Anka, country star Barbara Mandrell, hitmaker David Foster, actor Andy Garcia and playwright David Mamet will receive the 2026 Kennedy Center Honors, one of the highest tributes in American entertainment.

The five will be saluted on Monday, Dec. 7, at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Together they bring a combined 387 years of life and an almost endless list of hits, movies and plays that many of us grew up with. Here is everything you need to know, plus a fond look back at what made each of them a legend.

Who are the 2026 Kennedy Center honorees?

The Kennedy Center Honors have recognized lifetime achievement in the performing arts since 1978. That very first class was a who's who of the 20th century: contralto Marian Anderson, dancer Fred Astaire, choreographer George Balanchine, composer Richard Rodgers and pianist Arthur Rubinstein. Over the decades the Honors have grown to include country, rock, R&B, Latin music and rap, and the TV special has won 24 Primetime Emmys, according to Billboard.

This year's group has a fun international twist. Three of the five were born outside the United States: Anka and Foster in Canada and Garcia in Cuba. Billboard notes it is only the second time two Canadian-born artists have been honored in the same year, after Joni Mitchell and "Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels in 2021. Garcia is the fourth Cuban-born honoree, following Gloria Estefan, composer Tania León and jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval.

Paul Anka: the teen idol who wrote "My Way"

Long before he was a Las Vegas legend, Paul Anka was a teenager from Ottawa with a song called "Diana." It shot to No. 1 in 1957, and AARP recalls that he sang it on "The Ed Sullivan Show" that same year. More hits followed fast, including "Puppy Love," "Lonely Boy" and, much later, "(You're) Having My Baby." Billboard counts 10 top 10 hits for Anka on the Hot 100, including two No. 1 songs more than 15 years apart.

As a young star he toured with the Cavalcade of Stars alongside Buddy Holly, Frankie Lymon and Chuck Berry, and the Kennedy Center says he became the youngest entertainer ever to headline at New York's famous Copacabana. He also wrote for other stars, including "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," the last song Buddy Holly ever recorded, and "She's a Lady" for Tom Jones.

Then came the songs that made him a songwriting giant. Anka wrote the English lyrics to "My Way," which became Frank Sinatra's signature song, and he composed the theme for "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." The Kennedy Center calls it the longest-running theme in television history. Night owls of a certain age can probably hum it right now.

Anka never stopped. He co-wrote "This Is It" with Michael Jackson, a posthumous hit in 2009, and the Jackson co-write "Love Never Felt So Good" reached No. 1 in more than 50 countries in 2014. His 2013 autobiography, also titled "My Way," was a New York Times bestseller. That same year his album "Duets" made him the only artist with an album on the Billboard Top 100 in seven straight decades. He popped up on "The Masked Singer" in 2020, and his newest album, "Inspirations of Life and Love," came out in 2026. He is a member of both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Barbara Mandrell: country before country was cool

Barbara Mandrell was born into a musical family in Houston, Texas. According to the Kennedy Center, she was playing the accordion and reading sheet music before she could read words, and by age 11 she was a whiz on the steel guitar. Guitar great Joe Maphis invited her to join his show at the Showboat Hotel in Las Vegas, and as a teenager she toured with The Johnny Cash Show.

Her father, Irby Mandrell, formed the Mandrell Family Band, which toured Asia. Here's a sweet detail: that band is how Barbara met her husband, Ken Dudney, after her dad hired him as the drummer.

Once she landed in Nashville, the hits rolled in. Billboard lists six No. 1 country songs, including "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed," "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right," "Years" and the anthem "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool." In 1981 she became the first artist to win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year award two years in a row. She is also a two-time Grammy winner.

Many readers will remember Saturday nights with "Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters," the NBC variety show she starred in with her sisters Louise and Irlene in the early 1980s. Mandrell retired in 1997 with a farewell concert, "Barbara Mandrell and the Do-Rites: The Last Dance," filmed at the Grand Ole Opry for TNN. In 2009 she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and became the only woman ever inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.

David Foster: the hitmaker behind the ballads you love

If you slow-danced at a wedding in the last 40 years, there's a good chance David Foster had a hand in the song. AARP notes that he co-wrote and produced Chicago's 1982 No. 1 hit "Hard to Say I'm Sorry." He co-wrote "I Have Nothing" for Whitney Houston in "The Bodyguard" and won record of the year for producing her version of "I Will Always Love You" from the same soundtrack.

Foster has won 16 Grammy Awards, including three for producer of the year, plus an Emmy and a Golden Globe, the latter for co-writing "The Prayer." He has earned three Oscar nominations for best original song. The Kennedy Center credits him with helping launch the careers of Celine Dion, Josh Groban and Michael Bublé, and his long list of collaborators runs from Barbra Streisand and Kenny Rogers to Dolly Parton and Earth, Wind & Fire.

He's had his own moments in the spotlight, too. His "Love Theme From St. Elmo's Fire" was a top 15 hit in 1985, and his PBS specials "Hit Man: David Foster and Friends" and "Hit Man Returns" became, according to the Kennedy Center, PBS's highest-rated shows in decades. Recently he wrote the music for the Broadway musical "Betty Boop," which opened in 2025.

There is a lovely connection inside this year's class: Foster co-wrote Paul Anka's 1983 hit "Hold Me 'Til the Mornin' Comes," a duet with Peter Cetera. Off stage, Foster created The David Foster Foundation in 1986 to help Canadian families whose children need life-saving organ transplants.

Andy Garcia: from "The Untouchables" to "Ocean's Eleven"

Andy Garcia earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actor for "The Godfather Part III." He later received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for playing legendary Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval in HBO's "For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story," which he also executive produced.

Movie fans know him from a long list of favorites, including "The Untouchables," "Internal Affairs," "Black Rain," "When a Man Loves a Woman," the "Ocean's Eleven" trilogy, "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again," "The Mule," the "Book Club" films and the "Father of the Bride" remake he also executive produced.

Here's another fun link between honorees: in "The Untouchables," Garcia played George Stone, and the screenplay was written by fellow honoree David Mamet.

Garcia is also a passionate music man. He won a Grammy in 2005 as producer of Israel "Cachao" López's album "¡Ahora Sí!" And he's still busy: in 2026 he premiered "Diamond" at the Cannes Film Festival, a film he wrote, directed and stars in. He also wrote its score with his longtime friend Arturo Sandoval. TV viewers recently saw him in Season 2 of "Landman."

David Mamet: the master of sharp dialogue

David Mamet has been one of the most distinctive voices in American theater and film for more than five decades. He won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for drama for "Glengarry Glen Ross," his play about desperate real estate salesmen, and he wrote the screenplay for the movie version. His other plays include "American Buffalo," "Speed-the-Plow" and "Oleanna."

On the movie side, he wrote "The Verdict," "The Untouchables," "Hoffa," "Ronin" and "Wag the Dog," and he has been nominated for two Oscars. He also co-created the CBS series "The Unit" and is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company.

Why does it matter?

For fans who grew up with these artists, this is a chance to celebrate careers that stretch back to the days of "The Ed Sullivan Show" and Johnny Carson. Last year's honorees were George Strait, KISS, Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor and Sylvester Stallone, so the Honors continue to lean into big, beloved names.

The move to an arena is also a first, prompted by the closure of the Kennedy Center building, according to the AP. The Kennedy Center says it will transform Capital One Arena to capture the elegance the Honors are known for. If you love a good tribute night, keep an eye on our coverage of classic stars, from Henry Winkler's journey from Fonzie to today and his road from Yale to the Fonz to David Schwimmer at 60.

What's next

• Monday, Dec. 7, 2026: The 49th Kennedy Center Honors gala at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
• Still to come: The Kennedy Center has not yet announced which network will televise this year's show. We'll update you when it does.

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*ARCHIVE PHOTO: Paul Anka performing at Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, in May 2024. Photo: Crisco 1492 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0.*

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