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![Queen Latifah, Barry Gibb, Renée Fleming, Billy Crystal and Dionne Warwick pose together for a portrait as they are honored at the 46th Annual Kennedy Center Honors Queen Latifah, Barry Gibb, Renée Fleming, Billy Crystal and Dionne Warwick pose together for a portrait as they are honored at the 46th Annual Kennedy Center Honors](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/entertainment/television/info-2023/kennedy-center-honors-2023/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/container_image/articlecontentfragment/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/entertainment/television/2023/12/1140-46th-annual-kennedy-center-honors.jpg)
In what seemed like one standing ovation after another, a new class of Kennedy Center Honorees were saluted by a dazzling display of talent on Dec. 3 in the nation’s capital.
Comedian and actor Billy Crystal, 75; opera singer Renée Fleming, 64; British singer-songwriter and Bee Gees member Barry Gibb, 77; rapper, singer and actress Queen Latifah, 53; and singer Dionne Warwick, 82, sat alongside President Biden, 81, and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, 72, at a star-studded performance gala to celebrate their induction as the newest recipients of the lifetime achievement award for the arts. The lineup of stars who turn up to toast the honorees are traditionally kept under wraps – especially from the honorees themselves – until showtime.
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The 46th Annual Kennedy Center Honors will air at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Dec. 27 on CBS. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek inside the show:
![Former Kennedy Center Honoree Gloria Estefan and her husband, Emilio Estefan, on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner Former Kennedy Center Honoree Gloria Estefan and her husband, Emilio Estefan, on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/entertainment/television/info-2023/kennedy-center-honors-2023/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par3/articlecontentfragme/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/entertainment/television/2023/12/1140-gloria-estefan-emilio-estefan-kennedy-center-honors.jpg)
Gloria Estefan made the audience stand up and take some action
The evening’s host (and 2017 Kennedy Center Honoree) Gloria Estefan, 66, opened the show by singing her hit “Get On Your Feet,” and led a shimmy-shaking line of dancers down the aisles of the Kennedy Center Opera House, which did, in fact, bring the crowd to its feet – something that usually doesn’t happen until the show’s finale.
![Mickey Guyton and Dionne Warwick at the Kennedy Center Honors Mickey Guyton and Dionne Warwick at the Kennedy Center Honors](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/entertainment/television/info-2023/kennedy-center-honors-2023/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par5/articlecontentfragme/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/entertainment/television/2023/12/1140-mickey-guyton-dionne-warwick-kennedy-center-honors.jpg)
Luminaries sang Dionne Warwick's praises
Country artist Mickey Guyton thanked Warwick “for never compromising that special magic that makes you you,” before singing Warwick’s 1974 hit with the Spinners, “Then Came You.” Then Chloe Bailey sang Warwick’s 1964 smash “Walk on By,” noting that “this song is timeless, just like Dionne Warwick herself.” Clive Davis, 91, the legendary producer who revived Warwick's career in the '80s after disco imperiled it, praised Warwick’s “timeless voice,” adding that “there is simply no song that Dionne Warwick cannot sing.” 2022 Kennedy Center Honoree Gladys Knight, 79, performed Warwick's classic tune “I Say a Little Prayer” to round out the tribute.
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