Al Pacino, The Eagles, James Taylor, gospel and blues singer Mavis Staples and Argentine pianist Martha Argerich were celebrated Sunday for their lifetime achievements at the last major arts gala attended by President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

It was a bittersweet moment, with Obama making one of his final goodbyes to celebrated artists as president.

The first couple received an extended standing ovation as they entered the Opera House of the Kennedy Center, a monument to the late president John F&nbsp;Kennedy.

&quot;This is a joyous day. It&#39;s the best Christmas present!&quot; Staples told AFP on the red carpet about receiving a Kennedy Center Honor, considered the nation&#39;s highest recognition for performing artists, just before Obama leaves offices.

At 77, Staples lives up to the maxim that age is only a number. &quot;People ask me, &#39;Mavis, when are you going to retire?&#39; Retire for what? I love what I&#39;m doing and I intend to sing until I can&#39;t sing no more, forever,&quot; she said.

Sean Penn, Garth Brooks, Aretha Franklin, Kevin Spacey and Ringo Starr were some of the A-listers who serenaded and hailed the legacy of the award recipients during the star-studded performance hosted for the third consecutive year by late night talk show host Stephen Colbert.

&nbsp;

Obamas celebrated&nbsp;

As he kicked off the evening, Colbert said America was lucky to have a &quot;passionate, intelligent and dignified&quot; president. That brought loud cheers and applause from the crowd. Colbert then joked: &quot;Sir, I don&#39;t know why you stood up, I was talking about Michelle.&quot;

At a White House reception prior to the reception, Obama called the awards &quot;one of the parts of the job that I will miss&quot;.

Obama jokingly asked Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, a notorious troublemaker, not to trash the White House because he is leaving soon and wants his &quot;security deposit&quot; back.

The Eagles were set to be honoured last year but postponed due to the illness of founding member Glenn Frey, who died in January. He received his award posthumously.

Grammy Award-winner Juanes performed &quot;Hotel California&quot; with guitarist Steve Vai, who said before the event that playing the piece&#39;s famed guitar riff in front of the musicians was &quot;surreal.&quot;

Taylor, 68, performed &quot;America the Beautiful&quot; at Obama&#39;s second inauguration in January 2013, while Staples, who like none other provided the music of the civil rights movement, sang at Kennedy&#39;s inauguration.

&quot;In 1968, when James Taylor signed with Apple Records, I was in Vietnam and America was at war abroad and in turmoil here at home. We were fighting and marching to the music of (Jimi) Hendrix, the drumming of Ringo (Starr), the Doors, the (Rolling) Stones, and the (Grateful) Dead,&quot; Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday during a reception at which the artists received the awards.

&quot;And amid the darkness of that era, James Taylor returned sunlight to our minds, conjuring up the warm images of snow on the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston, deep greens and blues as the colours of choosing, and moonlight ladies singing rockabye to &#39;Sweet Baby James.&#39;&quot;

&nbsp;

Surprised?&nbsp;

Argerich, 75, is widely considered one of the world&#39;s best, if reclusive, pianists. For nearly two decades, she largely shunned solo performances, playing almost exclusively with orchestras and chamber ensembles, until a sold-out recital at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2000.

&quot;I was surprised. I didn&#39;t think I was entitled,&quot; Argerich said of learning she had won the award.

Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle hailed Pacino as being humble about his long and storied career that has seen him perform in some 100 films and plays, including &quot;The Godfather,&quot; &quot;Scarface, &quot;Sea of Love,&quot; &quot;Heat&quot; and &quot;Scent of a Woman&quot;.

&quot;His gift, for all the inspiration and intensity that he brings to his roles, is that he lets us into what his characters are feeling,&quot; Obama said.

(AFP)

They were celebrated on Sunday for their lifetime achievements at the last major arts gala attended by US President Barack Obama

Al Pacino, The Eagles, James Taylor, gospel and blues singer Mavis Staples and Argentine pianist Martha Argerich were celebrated Sunday for their lifetime achievements at the last major arts gala attended by President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. It was a bittersweet moment, with Obama making one of his final goodbyes to celebrated artists as president. The first couple received an extended standing ovation as they entered the Opera House of the Kennedy Center, a monument to the late president John F Kennedy. "This is a joyous day. It's the best Christmas present!" Staples told AFP on the red carpet about receiving a Kennedy Center Honor, considered the nation's highest recognition for performing artists, just before Obama leaves offices. At 77, Staples lives up to the maxim that age is only a number. "People ask me, 'Mavis, when are you going to retire?' Retire for what? I love what I'm doing and I intend to sing until I can't sing no more, forever," she said. Sean Penn, Garth Brooks, Aretha Franklin, Kevin Spacey and Ringo Starr were some of the A-listers who serenaded and hailed the legacy of the award recipients during the star-studded performance hosted for the third consecutive year by late night talk show host Stephen Colbert. Obamas celebrated As he kicked off the evening, Colbert said America was lucky to have a "passionate, intelligent and dignified" president. That brought loud cheers and applause from the crowd. Colbert then joked: "Sir, I don't know why you stood up, I was talking about Michelle." At a White House reception prior to the reception, Obama called the awards "one of the parts of the job that I will miss". Obama jokingly asked Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, a notorious troublemaker, not to trash the White House because he is leaving soon and wants his "security deposit" back. The Eagles were set to be honoured last year but postponed due to the illness of founding member Glenn Frey, who died in January. He received his award posthumously. Grammy Award-winner Juanes performed "Hotel California" with guitarist Steve Vai, who said before the event that playing the piece's famed guitar riff in front of the musicians was "surreal." Taylor, 68, performed "America the Beautiful" at Obama's second inauguration in January 2013, while Staples, who like none other provided the music of the civil rights movement, sang at Kennedy's inauguration. "In 1968, when James Taylor signed with Apple Records, I was in Vietnam and America was at war abroad and in turmoil here at home. We were fighting and marching to the music of (Jimi) Hendrix, the drumming of Ringo (Starr), the Doors, the (Rolling) Stones, and the (Grateful) Dead," Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday during a reception at which the artists received the awards. "And amid the darkness of that era, James Taylor returned sunlight to our minds, conjuring up the warm images of snow on the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston, deep greens and blues as the colours of choosing, and moonlight ladies singing rockabye to 'Sweet Baby James.'" Surprised? Argerich, 75, is widely considered one of the world's best, if reclusive, pianists. For nearly two decades, she largely shunned solo performances, playing almost exclusively with orchestras and chamber ensembles, until a sold-out recital at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2000. "I was surprised. I didn't think I was entitled," Argerich said of learning she had won the award. Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle hailed Pacino as being humble about his long and storied career that has seen him perform in some 100 films and plays, including "The Godfather," "Scarface, "Sea of Love," "Heat" and "Scent of a Woman". "His gift, for all the inspiration and intensity that he brings to his roles, is that he lets us into what his characters are feeling," Obama said. (AFP)

Al Pacino, James Taylor receive Kennedy Center Honors

Multifaceted actor Al Pacino, acclaimed for his movie roles as a mob boss, a druglord, and even Satan, is among the performers to receive this year&#39;s Kennedy Center Honours, one of America&#39;s top awards in the arts. 
 
Pacino joins a wide-ranging group of musicians -- rock band the Eagles, rhythm-and-blues legend Mavis Staples, singer-songwriter James Taylor and pianist Martha Argerich -- on the roster of Kennedy Center award winners announced Thursday. 
 
President Barack Obama will receive the honourees at the White House for the 39th annual gala on December 4, and footage of the star-studded event will air in a primetime special on December 29. 
 
&quot;These honourees represent what is possible when creativity is not just cultivated, but unleashed,&quot; Kennedy Center Chairman David Rubenstein said in a statement. 
 
Pacino&#39;s nomination comes as little surprise: The star of &quot;The Godfather&quot; trilogy has long been considered one of America&#39;s finest actors. 
 
&quot;Al Pacino has embodied some of the most powerful characters of our time on both the stage and the silver screen,&quot; said Rubenstein. 
 
The Eagles might also seem overdue, if only because the band was to have received the award last year but had to withdraw because of frontman Glenn Frey&#39;s failing health. 
 
(AFP) 
Frey had planned to attend this year&#39;s celebration, but died in January. 
 
&quot;The Eagles&#39; ambitiously-themed albums epically merged the American West and rock n&#39; roll, paving the way for unconventional music makers and artists to come,&quot; said Rubenstein. 
 
Three more solo musicians filled out the group, including gospel and blues singer Staples, whose music &quot;served as a musical backdrop&quot; to the Civil Rights movement, Rubenstein noted. 
 
The chairman called Taylor &quot;one of the defining musical figures of our time&quot;, dubbing his music &quot;the soundtrack of our country&quot;. 
 
Born in Buenos Aires, Argerich made her US debut in 1965 and went on to become &quot;one of the greatest pianists of the 20th and 21st centuries,&quot; said Rubenstein. 
&nbsp;

Footage of the star-studded event at the White House will air in a primetime special on December 29

Multifaceted actor Al Pacino, acclaimed for his movie roles as a mob boss, a druglord, and even Satan, is among the performers to receive this year's Kennedy Center Honours, one of America's top awards in the arts. Pacino joins a wide-ranging group of musicians -- rock band the Eagles, rhythm-and-blues legend Mavis Staples, singer-songwriter James Taylor and pianist Martha Argerich -- on the roster of Kennedy Center award winners announced Thursday. President Barack Obama will receive the honourees at the White House for the 39th annual gala on December 4, and footage of the star-studded event will air in a primetime special on December 29. "These honourees represent what is possible when creativity is not just cultivated, but unleashed," Kennedy Center Chairman David Rubenstein said in a statement. Pacino's nomination comes as little surprise: The star of "The Godfather" trilogy has long been considered one of America's finest actors. "Al Pacino has embodied some of the most powerful characters of our time on both the stage and the silver screen," said Rubenstein. The Eagles might also seem overdue, if only because the band was to have received the award last year but had to withdraw because of frontman Glenn Frey's failing health. (AFP) Frey had planned to attend this year's celebration, but died in January. "The Eagles' ambitiously-themed albums epically merged the American West and rock n' roll, paving the way for unconventional music makers and artists to come," said Rubenstein. Three more solo musicians filled out the group, including gospel and blues singer Staples, whose music "served as a musical backdrop" to the Civil Rights movement, Rubenstein noted. The chairman called Taylor "one of the defining musical figures of our time", dubbing his music "the soundtrack of our country". Born in Buenos Aires, Argerich made her US debut in 1965 and went on to become "one of the greatest pianists of the 20th and 21st centuries," said Rubenstein.

The Eagles, Al Pacino and James Taylor among Kennedy Center award winners

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Al Pacino, James Taylor receive Kennedy Center Honors

The Eagles, Al Pacino and James Taylor among Kennedy Center award winners