Joe Biden gathers with Queen Latifah and other Kennedy Center honorees at the White house in star-studded reception with Robert De Niro, Jay Leno and Kerry Washington
President Joe Biden celebrated this year's five Kennedy Center Honors winners with a reception at the White House ahead of the awards ceremony taping in Washington, D.C. on Sunday.
In a speech full of stumbles and mispronunciations, the president gave each honoree a few minutes of attention before heading to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Georgetown.
This year, actor and comedian Billy Crystal will be honored; opera and theater soprano Renée Fleming; British singer-songwriter and member of the Bee Gees, Barry Gibb; rapper, singer and actress Queen Latifah; and singer Dionne Warwick.
In addition to the guests of honor, the White House East Room room was filled with other celebrities – including actor Robert De Niro, TV host and comedian Jay Leno, actress Kerry Washington and actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner.
President Joe Biden celebrated the five Kennedy Center Honors honorees at the White House on Sunday evening with brief remarks about each. From left: actor and comedian Billy Crystal; opera and theater soprano Renée Fleming; British singer-songwriter and member of the Bee Gees, Barry Gibb; rapper, singer and actress Queen Latifah; singer Dionne Warwick and President Biden
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden were all dressed up for the White House reception on Sunday
Members of Biden's team also showed up for the glitzy occasion. They included Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
First lady Jill Biden was in attendance, stunning in a sparkling green floor-length dress. And Hunter Biden's daughter Naomi attended the reception with her husband Peter.
Biden, who is running for re-election in 2024, joked during his remarks that Crystal “promised me he wouldn't put me in the primary — because he would win.”
He repeatedly mispronounced Warwick's first name and mumbled through several parts of his prepared speeches, including a few minutes for each honoree.
The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual award given for lifetime achievement in the arts.
Previous recipients include George Clooney, George Clooney, Tina Turner, Cher and the cast of Hamilton.
The winners include singer and actor Queen Latifah (left) and singer Dionne Warwick (right)
The star-studded crowd included comedian Jay Leno, who attended Biden's speech and White House reception before the taping of the honors show at the Kennedy Center in Georgetown.
Actor Robert De Niro was also spotted in the crowd at the White House on Sunday evening
During Crystal, Fleming, Gibb, Latifah and Warwick's reception at the White House, Biden noted the recent death of former first lady Rosalynn Carter by calling her “a champion of the performing arts.”
Sunday evening's gala ceremony in Washington will be hosted by Gloria Estefan, a 2017 Kennedy Center tribute. CBS will air the 46th annual Kennedy Center Honors on December 27 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
This year's ceremony also marks hip-hop's 50th anniversary.
Among this year's winners, Crystal is best known for films such as When Harry Met Sally…, City Slickers and Analyze This.
He is also a nine-time host of the Academy Awards and has won six Emmy Awards.
Crystal received the 2007 Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Fleming has five Grammy Awards and the US National Medal of Arts.
The opera star has sung in everything from the Nobel Peace Prize awards to Barack Obama's first presidential inauguration to the Diamond Jubilee concert for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
In 2014, she became the first classical artist ever to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl.
The Guinness World Records and Billboard list Gibb alongside only Paul McCartney as one of the two most successful popular songwriters of all time.
As a member of the Bee Gees with his brothers Robin and Maurice, the trio sold more than 220 million records while writing 21 different songs that topped the US and UK charts, including 'Staying Alive' and 'Saturday Night Fever'.
Members of the Biden White House also attended the reception, including White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
Born in 1946 on the Isle of Man in Great Britain, Gibb is a nine-time Grammy Award winner and inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall Of Fame.
Queen Latifah has won six Grammy Awards for her music career.
Her film credits include Jungle Fever, Chicago and Bringing Down the House. Her television credits include Living Single and Star.
Warwick has more than 60 hit songs to her name, has sold more than 100 million records and comes from a musical family, including the late Whitney Houston, who was her cousin.
Her musical hits include “Don't Make Me Over,” “Walk On By” and “I Say a Little Prayer.”
Warwick performed in the all-star charity single 'We Are the World'. She also made recording history with Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder with “That's What Friends 7 Are For,” a 1985 number one hit and the first recording dedicated to raising awareness of AIDS.