Billy Joel, Carlos Santana and jazz legend Herbie Hancock joined actress Shirley McCalin and opera stand-out Martina Arroyo in receiving Kennedy Center Honors recognition Sunday (12/8) in the nation's capitol. Joel told the Associated Press the honor was 'overwhelming', adding, 'To be chosen for this award essentially for doing what I love most amazes me more than anything.'  Santana, the first Latino musician to receive the honor, told Jeffrey Brown of PBS that being a recipient is '...supremely important' to him because it give him the chance to '...give voice to the invisible ones, the ones who clean all the sheets, who clean all the toilets, serve in all hotels.

Highlights from the ceremony will be televised on December 29th.

StarPulse.com  PBS.org

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