Kennedy Center Honors Names Five for 2026: Anka, Foster, Garcia, Mamet, Mandrell

Five names carry the 2026 Kennedy Center Honors: singers Paul Anka and Barbara Mandrell, composer David Foster, actor Andy Garcia and writer David Mamet, announced Monday as the latest class of the revamped tradition. The ceremony moves to Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. — a venue swap that tells its own story about an institution in flux.

Who made the list?

The class spans five disciplines and several generations of American performing arts:

• Paul Anka — singer and songwriter with a catalog reaching back decades
• Barbara Mandrell — country singer, honored for a lifetime body of work
• David Foster — composer and producer
• Andy Garcia — actor
• David Mamet — writer and playwright

The honors program, launched in 1978, recognizes individuals who have made lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts. That mission statement has survived; nearly everything around it is under negotiation.

What did Trump say about the honorees?

"We are recognizing amazing artists whose lifelong work has shaped American culture and inspired generations of audiences. We are proud to honor this year's class and to continue a tradition that has defined the Center for nearly 50 years," President Donald Trump said in a statement announcing the class.

Trump's fingerprints are now all over the institution. There is no word on whether he will host the 2026 ceremony again, after the 2025 edition — which Trump hosted at the Kennedy Center itself — drew ratings that dropped to a new all-time low for the franchise.

What is happening to the Kennedy Center itself?

Plenty, and little of it involves programming. The institution sits at the center of a legal battle after Trump slammed a court decision that blocked, twice, his name from being added to the building's exterior. The board also chose to shut down the Kennedy Center, with Trump using social media posts to suggest the closure would clear the way for future renovations.

The renaming push is the louder fight. Trump has proposed renaming the venue The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. The plan has drawn blowback, including from members of the Kennedy family, and has resulted in numerous artists dropping out of planned performances at the Center — a quiet boycott by exit that no press release can counter.

Last year's honors gala aired on CBS and Paramount+ amid the renaming news, meaning the 2026 class will walk into the same storm: an arena venue, an embattled building, and a franchise trying to keep its nearly fifty-year tradition intact while its name, board and ratings all churn.

Five honorees, one contested building, and a ratings floor. The 2026 Kennedy Center Honors have their work cut out.