2024 batch of Kennedy Center honorees announced: Francis Ford Coppola, Bonnie Raitt and more in the list

The new batch of Kennedy Center honorees ishere. On Thursday (July 18), the recipients of the 47th installment of the prestigious American honour were revealed.

This year's list includes the names of acclaimed Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola; rock band The Grateful Dead (Mickey Hart, Billy Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bobby Weir); singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt; and jazz composer, and pianist Arturo Sandoval.

The Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York will celebrate its 90th anniversary this year, and will get a special honour “as an iconic American institution.”

The ceremony will take place on December 8 at Washington's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Francis Ford Coppola said in a statement, “I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to collaborate with great artists and wonderful people throughout my career, and I have never stopped learning. There is no greater honor than to be included along with those who inspired me, who I looked up to, and who gave me encouragement when times were dim. I am grateful to the Kennedy Center, my beloved colleagues, to those who equate beauty and truth, and to all the children of the world.”

Considered the highest recognition for artistic excellence in the United States, The Kennedy Center Honors are bestowed to individuals for their immense contributions to American culture and to the performing arts — whether in films, television, music, dance, theatre, or opera among others