Guy, Hoffman up for Kennedy Center honors

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Bluesman Buddy Guy, actor Dustin Hoffman and comedian David Letterman are to be recognized at the 35th annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington.

Also to be honored at the event will be ballerina Natalia Makarova and rock band Led Zeppelin.

President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will attend the program, which will be broadcast Dec. 26 on the CBS Television Network.

"With their extraordinary talent, creativity and tenacity, the seven 2012 Kennedy Center Honorees have contributed significantly to the cultural life of our nation and the world," Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein said in a statement Wednesday.

"Buddy Guy is a titan of the blues and has been a tremendous influence on virtually everyone who has picked up an electric guitar in the last half century; Dustin Hoffman's unyielding commitment to the wide variety of roles he plays has made him one of the most versatile and iconoclastic actors of this or any other generation; David Letterman is one of the most influential personalities in the history of television, entertaining an entire generation of late-night viewers with his unconventional wit and charm; Natalia Makarova's profound artistry has ignited the stages of the world's greatest ballet companies and continues to pass the torch to the next generation of dancers; and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant transformed the sound of rock 'n' roll with their lyricism and innovative song structures, infusing blues into the sound of rock and roll and laying the foundation for countless rock bands."