The stars will come out at the Kennedy Center for Coppola, the Grateful Dead, Raitt and Sandoval

WASHINGTON — Celebrities, cultural icons and a few surprise guests will gather for the annual Kennedy Center Honors celebration in Washington on Sunday evening.

This year’s recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Artistic Achievement are directors Francis Ford Coppolathe grateful deadjazz trumpeter Arturo Sandovaland singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt. In addition, the venerable Harlem Theater The Apollothat launched generations of black artists is being recognized.

There will be personal tributes with performances and testimonials from fellow artists during the gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Medallions were presented during the traditional Saturday evening ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The tribute performances are often kept secret from the recipients themselves, most notably in 2018 when Cyndi Lauper downright lied to her old friend Cher about not being able to attend. Lauper appeared on stage to perform Cher’s hit “If I Could Turn Back Time.”

Several of the latest honorees have themselves participated in previous tributes to friends and colleagues at the Kennedy Center.

Coppola spoke at the introduction of fellow director Martin Scorsese in 2007. Sandoval performed in the tribute to his mentor, jazz trumpet legend Dizzy Gillespie. Raitt has participated in tributes to Buddy Guy and Mavis Staples. Raitt even attended the Kennedy Center Honors in the 1970s when her father, Broadway performer John Raitt, took part in a tribute to composer Richard Rogers.

The tribute to the Grateful Dead is also expected to serve as a memorial to the band’s founding bassist Phil Leshwho died in October at the age of 84.

This could also be the last Kennedy Center Honors ceremony without any political intrigue.

During Republican Donald Trump’s first four years in office, Kennedy Center officials were forced to publicly balance the tradition of the president attending the ceremony and the open antipathy toward Trump from multiple honorees. In 2017, recipient Norman Lear threatened to boycott his own ceremony if Trump attended. Trump, who takes office in January, skipped the ceremony for his entire first term.

Democratic President Joe Biden is expected to host a reception for the honorees at the White House and plans to attend the Kennedy Center ceremony afterward.

The show will air on CBS on December 22.