Trump picks Stallone and Kiss for Kennedy Center honors
- The San Juan Daily Star
- Aug 15, 2025
- 3 min read
By Karoun Demirjian
The five Kennedy Center honorees announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday hail from a typically broad spectrum of the arts: popular musical genres, the Broadway stage and blockbuster Hollywood films.
Trump’s list of recipients included country music artist George Strait, disco queen Gloria Gaynor and rock band Kiss as his musical honorees. He rounded out his list with two actors: Michael Crawford, an Englishman decorated for his stage performances in musicals including “Phantom of the Opera,” and Sylvester Stallone, the American action actor best known for portraying the boxer Rocky Balboa in a series of eponymous films and the mercenary warrior John Rambo in another box-office franchise.
Trump’s announcement, which he made from the Kennedy Center, is his first since he purged the renowned concert venue of its board members appointed by former President Joe Biden, fired the center’s president and made himself chair.
It revealed his growing influence over the center and its programs as well as his veto power over the list of honorees. He had personally approved each of the recipients, he said, and rejected several other suggested artists because they were “wokesters.”
But while some of this year’s recipients have expressed support for Trump, the list doesn’t read like a blatantly political roster.
George Strait, country king
Strait, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006, is credited with helping to bring country music back to a more traditional sound, at a time when the genre was gravitating toward pop influence. Strait, a Texan, looks as well as sounds the part of a country music legend, having preferred a signature urban cowboy style since his first breakout hits in the 1980s. In the decades since, he has enjoyed remarkable success, racking up 60 No. 1 hit songs on the country charts — the most of any artist in any genre.
Gloria Gaynor, disco queen
Gaynor, who was inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame in 2005, is one of the most recognizable voices of the disco movement that peaked in the United States during the 1970s. Her popularity, however, has far outlasted that era, thanks to the lasting commercial success of her biggest hit, “I Will Survive” — which also seems to be a personal favorite of Trump’s.
“Unbelievable song,” Trump quipped during his announcement, adding that “it’s one of those few that get better every time you hear it.” The song is so recognizable and popular that it has occasionally been repurposed as an anti-Trump anthem, including in 2017, when celebrities recorded themselves singing it in anticipation of Trump’s first inauguration.
Kiss, hard rock and heavy makeup
Kiss, known beyond its fan base for its members’ face paint, elaborate costumes and stage performances that feature theatrics and pyrotechnics, has had its style alternatively described as hard rock, heavy metal, glam rock and glam metal. Regardless of classification, the group, which formed in the 1970s, had a huge influence on bands that followed, helping to popularize grandiose live performances. Kiss, which continues to enjoy significant commercial success and crossover appeal, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
Michael Crawford, the original Phantom
Crawford might not be a household name in the United States, but the decorated British stage actor has originated and popularized a series of iconic roles in musical theater. He was the original Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera” when it premiered in London, and won a Tony Award for the role after it moved to Broadway. Long before that, he sang the role of Cornelius Hackl in the 1969 film version of “Hello, Dolly!” starring Barbra Streisand.
“I think he’s one of the greatest talents I’ve ever actually seen,” Trump said of Crawford on Wednesday.
Sylvester Stallone, action hero
For many moviegoers, Stallone’s visage is synonymous with title roles he popularized in two franchises that produced multiple films and more than $1 billion in revenue: Rocky, about a hapless Philadelphia boxer who becomes the heavyweight champion, and Rambo, about an Army special forces veteran of the Vietnam War who fights bad guys, including corrupt cops.
In addition to his film credentials, Stallone is a stalwart supporter of Trump, whom he called “the second George Washington” shortly after his election in November. Trump has also designated Stallone one of three “special ambassadors” to Hollywood, tasked with bringing film production that has been taking place overseas to the United States.
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