Andy Garcia to David Foster, Trump’s 2026 Kennedy Center Honorees explored

Trump’s picks for the 2026 Kennedy Center Honors are in, and this year’s class brings together five names from vastly different corners of the entertainment world. Singer-songwriter Paul Anka, music producer David Foster, country legend Barbara Mandrell, Cuban-born actor Andy Garcia and playwright David Mamet will be celebrated at the 49th annual ceremony on Dec. 7.

This year’s announcement came quietly, through a press release, a contrast to last year when Trump made the reveal himself at a live press event. As per the official release, Trump said,

“We are recognizing amazing artists whose lifelong work has shaped American culture and inspired generations of audiences.”

“We are proud to honor this year’s class and to continue a tradition that has defined the Center for nearly fifty years,” added Trump.

Worth noting is the international thread running through this year’s class. Anka and Foster were both born in Canada, while Garcia was born in Cuba, making him the fourth Cuban-born artist in the honor’s history. This year’s honorees range in age from Garcia, seventy, to Anka, eighty-five. The ceremony moves to Capital One Arena this year, stepping away from the Opera House where it has been held since 1978.

Trump picks Paul Anka for Kennedy Center Honors as the legendary songwriter reflects on seventy years of making music:

Anka’s career is one that is genuinely difficult to summarise in a few lines. His first hits, Diana and You Are My Destiny, were already making waves before the Billboard Hot 100 even existed, which launched in August 1958. He went on to rack up ten top ten hits on that chart, among them a pair of No. 1 hits that arrived more than fifteen years apart, Lonely Boy and (You’re) Having My Baby.

That alone would be a career. But Anka kept going. He wrote the English-language lyrics for what became one of Frank Sinatra’s most defining late-career recordings, My Way, and also penned the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, a tune that became as familiar to American households as the man himself.

His trophy shelf reflects the breadth of that body of work. Anka holds membership in both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. His individual honors include the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s highest distinction, the Johnny Mercer Award, along with BMI’s Icon Award and France’s National Order of Merit.

Following the announcement, Anka took to X to share his reaction, writing,

“After 70 years of doing what I love and being a part of the fabric of the American culture, I am humbled to receive this prestigious honor.”

Trump’s Kennedy Center honorees David Foster and Barbara Mandrell shaped two very different corners of American music:

At seventy-seven, David Foster holds sixteen Grammy Awards, three of which came for producer of the year, non-classical, three for album of the year and two for record of the year. The artists he has worked with read like a roll call of popular music’s biggest names, among them Earth, Wind & Fire, Chicago, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion and Michael Bublé. Beyond the studio, Foster took home a Golden Globe for co-writing The Prayer from Quest for Camelot, a Primetime Emmy for co-writing music for ABC’s The Concert for World Children’s Day and has received three Oscar nominations for best original song. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010.

One detail that adds an interesting layer to this year’s class is the shared history between Foster and fellow honoree Paul Anka. Foster co-wrote Anka’s 1983 hit Hold Me Till The Morning Comes.

Barbara Mandrell’s inclusion carries its own historical significance. She becomes the fourth female country artist to receive the Kennedy Center Honors, following Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire. A two-time Grammy winner, Mandrell was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009 and in 1981 became the first artist to win entertainer of the year at the CMA Awards twice. Her six No. 1 country hits include Sleeping Single in a Double Bed and I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.

Reacting to the honor, Mandrell posted on Instagram,

“Receiving the Kennedy Center Honors is one of the greatest honors of my life.”

From The Godfather to Glengarry Glen Ross, Trump honorees Andy Garcia and David Mamet’s award-winning careers explored:

Garcia received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actor for The Godfather, Part III. He later earned two Primetime Emmy nominations and a second Golden Globe nod for HBO’s For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story, which he also executive produced. In 2005, he picked up a Grammy as producer of ¡Ahora Sí!

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Playwright and filmmaker David Mamet, seventy-eight, holds two Tony nominations for Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-the-Plow, two Oscar nominations for The Verdict and Wag the Dog, and two Emmy nominations for writing and directing Phil Spector.

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