WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Leon Fleisher, Steve Martin, Diana Ross, Martin Scorsese and Brian Wilson have been chosen to receive the Kennedy Center Honors of 2007 in Washington.
"With their extraordinary talent, creativity, and perseverance, the five 2007 honorees have transformed the way we, as Americans, see, hear and feel the performing arts. We will forever be thankful for the great gift they have shared with us," Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, said in a statement.
During the Dec. 2, star-studded gala, the 2007 honorees will be saluted by great performers from Hollywood and the arts capitals of the world on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage, with U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, in attendance.
The Kennedy Center Honors will be bestowed the night before the gala at a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The gala will air for the 30th consecutive year on CBS on Dec. 26 as a two-hour prime-time special.
