Kennedy Center Honors

Barbra Streisand, Morgan Freeman, Twyla Tharp, George Jones, and Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are the six recipients of the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors, according to Reuters.

The Kennedy Center honorees are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through performing arts, and are selected by the Center's board of trustees.

"Morgan Freeman's name is synonymous with great screen acting and is one of the most respected performers in American cinema," Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman said, according to E! Online. "Barbra Streisand's trailblazing career in music, theater, films and television is one of the most thrilling spectacles of our culture."

"As the heart and soul of the seminal band The Who, songwriters and singers Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey transformed the sights and sounds of rock and roll," Schwartzman said.

Schwarzman went on to call country singer George Jones "instrumental" and "a vital force in American life," and Twyla Tharp "an American original . . . who has indelibly enriched the vocabulary of modern dance, contemporary ballet and the Broadway musical."

According to Reuters, the 31st annual honors will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington on December 6, and CBS will broadcast the event the following night. President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush will be at the event, hosted by Condoleezza Rice.