Stephen Colbert to host the Kennedy Center Honors

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Incoming Late Show star Stephen Colbert is to host the 37th annual Kennedy Center Honors program to be broadcast Dec. 30, CBS announced.

Singer Al Green, actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks, ballerina Patricia McBride, singer-songwriter Sting, and comedienne Lily Tomlin are the 2014 event's honorees.

"I am stunned to be receiving a Kennedy Center Honor at such a young age. I thought it would be years before... I'm sorry. I'm being told I am hosting the Kennedy Center Honors. Oh... Well, I'm glad. That makes a lot more sense," Colbert said in a statement Wednesday.

"Stephen Colbert's creative and comedic genius is admired from Hollywood to New York to Washington, D.C.," added Jack Sussman, executive vice president of specials, music and live events for CBS Entertainment. "We're thrilled to have him lend his showmanship, wit and immeasurable talents to this year's the Kennedy Center Honors."

"The Kennedy Center Honors recognizes excellence on a national stage, and we are pleased that a man of Stephen's accomplishment will host the show. He is best in class, and will no doubt undo any solemnity that might otherwise attend the occasion," said the program's co-producer George Stevens, Jr.

The longtime host of The Colbert Report will succeed David Letterman as emcee of the Late Show in 2015.