Full-Time Blues Radio

Legendary Bluesman Buddy Guy adds to his long list of lifetime achievements this winter, when he is among the 2012 class of Kennedy Center honorees. Buddy joins the long list of performers and groups who have been saluted for their contributions to the arts and culture in America. Other honorees in 2012 include Led Zeppelin, David Letterman, Dustin Hoffman, and ballerina Natalia Makarova.

The announcements of Buddy’s upcoming sallute at the Kennedy Center Honors follows the 2012 release of his autobiography When I Left Home: My Story, which traces his journey from Lettsworth, Louisiana to worldwide Blues legend and influential guitarist. Noted by Rolling Stone as number 30 on their list of 100 greatest guitarists of all time, Buddy Guy influenced men ranging from Jimi Hendrix to John Mayer.

That influence is one of the major reasons Buddy Guy was chosen for the Kennedy Center honors. Kennedy Center Chairman David Rubenstein said in a statement “Buddy Guy is a titan of the blues and has been a tremendous influence on virtually everyone who has picked up an electric guitar in the last half century.”

Rubenstein also noted of Led Zeppelin, “Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant transformed the sound of rock and roll with their lyricism and innovative song structures, infusing blues into the sound of rock and roll and laying the foundation for countless rock bands.”

Honorees will receive their medals from President Barack Obama on December 1, 2012. A gala will be held the following night, featuring tribute performances to each of the artists by fellow world class artists. The gala is recorded for broadcast, and this year’s event will air on CBS Decmber 26, 2012 at 9:000 PM Eastern.

Click Here to read the official announcement at the official Kennedy Center website.