George Strait Deserves the Kennedy Center Honors, Not Political Rancor
Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Reba McEntire, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, and Roy Acuff make up the very exclusive list of country stars that have been feted by the Kennedy Center Honors since 1978. And now, “King” George Strait will join that club, and it couldn’t be more deserved.
Announced on Wednesday (8-13), Strait will be inducted with R&B/Soul goddess Gloria Gaynor, British actor/singer Michael Crawford, iconic actor and screenplay writer Sylvester Stallone, and glam metal band KISS. Strait was actually the first to be announced of the new Kennedy Center class to the joy of many country fans.
“First is country music star, actor and producer George Strait,” President Trump said during the announcement. “Over an extraordinary four decade career, George has sol over 120 million records worldwide, amassed 60 #1 hits, and produced 30 Platinum-certified albums, more than any other living American. That is amazing. He’s believed to be by millions of people to be just as good as you can get. And he’s beloved by hundreds of millions of people all over the world. He’s really something. They call him the King of Country.”
George Strait is more than deserving of the honor, and it feels like it’s coming at the perfect time in his career. But as to be expected, in this politically acrimonious time we live in, all of these Kennedy Center picks are polarizing in the minds of some. When it comes to George Strait though, it shouldn’t be.
Irrespective of who made this pick, this was the time to bestow “King” George Strait with this honor. Looking through the list of previous honorees, Strait was the most obvious name missing from the list of topmost country artists of the last 50 years. The Kennedy Center Honors are not exclusive to country obviously or even to music. But he’s the one who you can set beside all the others, and nobody would bat an eyelash.
Was George Strait only picked because he’s a country artist, because he’s from Texas, or because he’s perceived as a conservative? Absolutely not. And really, Strait has never signaled any kind of political affiliation, while his humanitarian efforts have been lauded by people across the political divide, including recently raising $6 million for flood relief down in central Texas after the 4th of July disasters.
If Joe Biden or Kamala Harris were president, this still likely would have been the year George Strait was picked. He was announced first because he was probably picked first, and was such a no-brainer.
Nonetheless, you don’t have to go far to find opinions like this:
For the record, George Strait hasn’t even acknowledged the achievement as of yet, nor signaled any effort to be a “willing fascist propaganda tool,” so let’s just tap the brakes a little bit.
And it’s not George Strait’s fault the Kennedy Center Honors have been politicized. And yes, they have been politicized, and that is unfortunate. As an institution of the arts and entertainment, they should be insulated and rise above the political fray. But when President Trump fired the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees, installed himself as chairman, and appointed Lee Greenwood as one of the new board members, he unnecessarily politicized the honors in a way that has now made the entire process polarizing, despite how deserving the picks might be.
Were the Kennedy Center Honors political before? Probably so. As Michael Ian Black writing for the left-leaning Daily Beast admits, “It’s naïve to think that politics haven’t played a role in the Kennedy Center Honors before this year. I’d be an idiot to claim that the past inclusion of Democratic luminaries like George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen or Oprah Winfrey wasn’t, in some way, payback for their support.”
But that politicization was more passive, not active. After all, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, and Roy Acuff who almost ran for governor as a Republican once were all right-leaning country stars who still got in. However, Trump said in his press conference that he actively passed over some “woksters” to come to his picks.
At the same time though, the 2025 picks don’t feel especially political, or really that polarizing. KISS might be the most quizzical pick, and not because they weren’t obvious superstars, but because a glam metal band isn’t exactly who you think of when you think of the more formal Kennedy Center Honors. Both Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons have both overtly and fairly commonly criticized Trump in the past. But they still got selected.
After being named as Kennedy Center Honorees, the band said graciously, “KISS is the embodiment of the American dream. We are deeply honored to receive the Kennedy Center Honor.”
To them, the honor means more than the individual who may or may not be making the announcement. And that’s the attitude we all should take as opposed to taking out political anger on artists. Some might think Sylvester Stallone was picked exclusively because he’s been a Trump supporter. But those folks have probably never seen Rocky or First Blood. Sure, Stallone became a caricature of himself at times. But few if anyone has embodied the American experience in cinema like Sly.
And if these awards were all about American homogeneity and White supremacy, Trump probably wouldn’t have picked British-born Michael Crawford, or Black singer Gloria Gaynor. In total, the picks actually feel quite diverse and generally apolitical, even if Crawford and Gaynor aren’t exactly household names.
And even Daily Beast writer Michael Ian Black when generally trashing the picks ultimately said, “If anybody deserves to be recognized for a lifetime of greatness, it’s George Strait. Now here, I know nothing about the man or his politics and, honestly, I don’t want to? I just want to celebrate that a deserving American is getting the recognition he deserves. Country music has often been overlooked by the hoity-toity cultural elite, and it’ll be great to see artists honor the man known as ‘The King of Country.‘”
Here here. This is a sentiment we should all be able to agree on.
It sucks we live in such an acrimonious moment. But no matter who resides in the Oval Office, “King” George deserves this honor, would have probably received it irrespective of who was making the decisions, and shouldn’t be dragged due to things out of his control. Because George Strait is a King for everyone.
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August 14, 2025 @ 11:19 am
Looking forward to seeing what the poster here who goes by “Strait” has to say.
Should be spicy!
August 14, 2025 @ 2:38 pm
George Strait hasn’t ever been political and I don’t like compelling anyone who isn’t political to make some kind of political stand especially in the one aspect of politics that is typically the most apolitical: honoring musicians and other people deserving of honor.
August 14, 2025 @ 4:49 pm
Agreed. The Kennedy Center Award is an ‘apolitical’ forum as David B above correctly points out. Unfortunately, many people including Americans are unaware of this fact because of the well known Kennedy Democrat name and former Democrat President John Kennedy.It is worthy to note that George Strait’s name was at the top of the 2025 list for induction regardless of who is President or what political party is in office. George Strait’s fans must know this and support whatever decision he and wife Norma choose to make.I hope they choose to show up and accept the award for their excellence in contribution to traditional American values and Country Music which no one can claim as their greatest achievement or part of their legacy. Amen.
August 14, 2025 @ 5:51 pm
Disagree. While this specific award to King George is non political, the Kennedy center honors are absolutely political . That’s why trump overhauled it, he and his admin saw it as woke and wanted to change it around. Trump allies were not awarded nor were they welcome in previous years. Lots of talented artists have been awarded, all duly awarded. But their clientele and their artists overall aren’t exactly about speaking to rural redneck electorate which obviously is a significant cohort, they just elected the sitting president.
Oddly as trigger pointed out despite trumps overt statements about anger towards the woke nature of the award and his actual actions to change the awards honorees, this specific crew of honorees is non political, he’s honoring both democrat and conservative artists. So in essence this is more balanced than in years past. I think he deserves credit, even though he won’t get it. He could have only awarded MAGA artists but he chose not to. And as trigger points out with KISS he’s actually awarding an artist that has disagreed with him. That’s fair and balanced as it should be.
I don’t think, however, the awards of the past were non political or balanced or fair in terms of breakdowns of political allegiances. As I stated before, Kennedy center honors wasn’t exactly knocking on conservative artists doors nor do they in the past cater to conservative art. Jeff foxworthy and Larry the cable guy probably wouldn’t have gotten an invite.
August 14, 2025 @ 10:35 pm
Which of this year’s nominees are Democratic? I’ll hang up and listen..
August 15, 2025 @ 7:39 am
You maga nuts don’t even know what woke is
August 16, 2025 @ 10:50 am
Trump did not take over the Kennedy Center because it was liberal. Although it is common to refer to “liberal arts” that term isn’t political in nature.
Trump just wants to control and manipulate EVERYTHING. The press, the military, the economy, the libraries, the history contained in the museums (Smithsonian Institute), etc.
Trump is cleansing and manipulating the histories of all people’s who have lived in and died for the freedom and betterment of this wonderful experiment called, the United States of America.
George Strait is one of those people and should be nationally recognized for his contribution. He’s a national treasure, for sure.
However, let’s not forget that Trump himself bragged that he alone picked all of the Kennedy Honorees, so he is the source of the politization “rumor.”
August 19, 2025 @ 7:57 am
If I had known this was coming, it would have been amusing to go to a socialist rally with a “George Strait is the King” sign.
August 16, 2025 @ 7:20 am
The Kennedy Center is officially political now because of this administration who has done what no president has ever done by putting himself in charge. He even denied awards to performers he called “woke”. Anyone who chooses to associate with the center is advocating is taking a political side, they are just too much of cowards to admit it.
August 16, 2025 @ 12:45 pm
And wants to add HIS NAME to the Center as well as MELANOMIA’s to the performing arts theater.
God help us once he gets his tiny little vulgar hands on the building and starts “ improvements” . He’s already desecrated the Oval Office so now it looks like the lair of some dipshit Middle Eastern potentate with dictatorial tendencies or a replica of his WAR CRIME committing buddy , Vlad’s office in the Kremlin.
He’s an egotistical , self-aggrandizing, pathological liar with HORRIBLE taste! 🤮
August 20, 2025 @ 11:28 am
Woke is dead thank God. Fxck George Straight. Never will buy any of his again
August 14, 2025 @ 6:22 pm
It has nothing to do with his deserving of the honor, it’s the person giving it out. I was hoping he would refuse it. Knowing it’s coming from an amoral president.
August 14, 2025 @ 8:04 pm
I disagree. If you don’t believe there is a certain amount of respect that should be given to the position of the presidency when it comes to honoring certain people then you are as fanatical as the people who have Fox News on 24/7 and repeat those talking points. It really is a no-win situation for George Strait to be honored because if he refuses the award, there will be backlash, if he accepts it there will be backlash but to a lesser degree. Him and his legacy do not deserve any backlash. Trump is obviously not a Country music fan and made this selection at the direction of others and considering Strait’s legacy it is a fair pick.
August 14, 2025 @ 8:12 pm
I think it’s important to note that George Strait has said nothing about this. There’s been no press release. There’s been no public response like we saw with KISS. I’m not saying he’s trying to distance from it. But he hasn’t even acknowledged it. My guess is he will accept it when it comes time. But I think Strait has gotten where he’s gotten by being a wise and cautious man. Like you mention, he turns it down, it hurts him more than accepting it, especially with the country music constituency. But he’s not ready to throw a party over it either. He’s being very George Strait about it, which is the whole reason he deserves a Kennedy Center Honor in the first place.
August 16, 2025 @ 11:12 am
I love George Strait. He deserves this award. And I also likes the way he doesn’t run his political views down everybody’s throats.
August 16, 2025 @ 2:48 pm
And wants to add HIS NAME to the Center as well as MELANOMIA’s to the performing arts theater.
God help us once he gets his tiny little vulgar hands on the building and starts “ improvements” . He’s already desecrated the Oval Office so now it looks like the lair of some dipshit Middle Eastern potentate with dictatorial tendencies or a replica of his WAR CRIME committing buddy , Vlad’s office in the Kremlin.
He’s an egotistical , self-aggrandizing, pathological liar with HORRIBLE taste! 🤮
August 20, 2025 @ 11:31 am
Greatest president ever. You have a problem making American great and getting rid of criminals in our country illegally
August 15, 2025 @ 10:27 am
It’s just “unseemly” to parade a Grandiose Narcissistic Politician, especially a President,
Whose Fascist Act is putting his opinion over everyone else’s? He actually said that he and Stallone were the 2 biggest stars on the Walk of Fame!!!! That’s truly insane!
August 18, 2025 @ 4:22 am
GEORGE STRAIT DESERVES THIS HONOR AS.MUCH OR MORE THAN THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE HIM. HE IS A BEAUTIFUL MAN…STRONG, POLITE, GENTLE, HUMBLE, AND LET US NEVER FORGET MORE TALENT IN HIS LITTLE FINGER THAN MOST WHO SHARE THE HONOR. POLITICS ASIDE HE IS TO BE HONORED FOR WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE.
August 17, 2025 @ 11:03 am
I’m surprised Trump even knows who King Strait is.
He’s got his head so far up Putin’s ass he doesn’t even know what year it is.
The Kennedy Center should be run by the Kennedy family. Is he also going to come to MA and dismantle the JFK Library, too?
Rose Kennedy must be rolling in her grave.
August 17, 2025 @ 2:02 pm
Agreed “Kiki”. Giving Putin all that red carpet welcome on American soil in Alaska, I.S.A. and the ride in the Presidential Motorcade, called The Best” is hard to watch as an American tax payer. Worst of all, the former Kremlin KGB turn President-Putin- broke protocol and address the world first on American soil during the joint Press Conference while our government stood in silence beside the worlds’ dictator of modern times without the First Lady by his side and with no explanation to why FLOTU was absent. God bless Nancy Reagan and her beloved husband and the best American President in my lifetime President Ronald Reagan (R.I.P.), amen
August 14, 2025 @ 11:21 am
Yes, it’s funny we now live in a time when performers and artists would probably rather not be picked for these awards fearing undeserved blowback. But most folks outside of the country world are probably unaware about his pick anyway. I read a few articles about this last night and they mentioned all the other artists at the top of the articles. Strait was kind of an “oh yea, and this guy” afterthought at the end of the articles
August 14, 2025 @ 11:33 am
Trigger’s article on Haggard’s Kennedy Center induction remains one of his best scathing reports.
August 14, 2025 @ 11:41 am
Exactly. Any of these honorees would be lauded by the left if any other president were in office. But since we are under the current administration, we just have the ten-millionth excuse for the same, tired, predictable, TDS tantrum. No one cares anymore. They don’t want to watch? Fine. The show will probably have its highest rating in years without them anyway. Congrats to all the honorees this year, and especially King George. Well-deserved.
August 14, 2025 @ 12:43 pm
You mean the pedo POTUS?
At least 25 women have accused Trump of sexual assault, groping, or harassment. His “Access Hollywood” tape comment—“Grab ’em by the pussy”—is cited as demeaning and indicative of predatory attitudes. The guy who called Epstein his best friend. The guy who sexualized his daughter.
Buddy, you have Truth Derangement Syndrome.
August 14, 2025 @ 1:29 pm
George is getting one of our nation’s biggest cultural honors. Could you just be magnanimous and let him get his flowers? Please?
August 15, 2025 @ 2:08 am
Ditto to this comment….but I’d much prefer he’d gotten it before this year….I admit I was upset Reba and Garth got it before GS did but I also can’t deny their qualifications.
August 15, 2025 @ 6:28 am
It never was a political thing before he took that position, now itt will be nothing but political.And once he gives himself the honor, it will just become a gimmick. Something he gives to his criminal friendsl.
August 14, 2025 @ 1:31 pm
Dude, haven’t you seen the sorority videos? It’s cool to be American again
Complaining about trump/being a pussy liberal is old news
Get with the winning team!
August 14, 2025 @ 2:28 pm
sorority videos are cool? lmao. there’s only one side worked up over the manufactured rage of jeans, and buddy, is it working.
August 14, 2025 @ 3:20 pm
Hate to break it to you, but sororities have been doing those videos for a long time. In fact, pretty sure it was conservatives that used to call them sluts and immodest, etc…but now that Sydney Sweeney put on some denim, flashed some cleavage, registered as a Republican and sorority girls made some videos, it’s all good now!
August 14, 2025 @ 4:30 pm
This conservative agrees, Andrew.
It is silly that leftists think the Sweeney ad supported Nazi era fascism but conservatives should focus on highlighting that bizarre behavior and not think sorority videos are an ally.
August 15, 2025 @ 6:16 pm
The man trafficked and raped children
August 17, 2025 @ 10:15 am
Oh brother. You’re hallucinating.
August 14, 2025 @ 1:59 pm
Don’t forget showering with his preteen daughter as well! Oh wait, that was Joe Biden. My bad. Dude they’re all slime balls, that’s why their in politics. Your on here doing the exact thing the article is talking about. Just be happy George gets to enjoy this before it’s to late. Merle was one of my favorites,but I didn’t whine when he was awarded by President Obama even though I disagreed with most all of Obama’s policies
August 14, 2025 @ 2:27 pm
Merle got honored as he should have been. I don’t care who the President was even though I was not a fan of Obama either. Completely immaterial to me.
August 14, 2025 @ 11:14 pm
Why do Trumpies always have the worst grammar?
August 15, 2025 @ 9:34 am
“Have the worst grammer?”
Do you mean use the worst grammer?
August 15, 2025 @ 2:14 am
Except that Pres. Obama didn’t fire the entire Kennedy Center board, installed himself as Chairman, or personally approve/reject honorees. He also didn’t choose himself master of ceremonies for the tv show. It all seems off kilter….too much to have to deal with at the same time….overbearing and in your face….does that make any sense?? BTW, I have no complait with any of the 5 honorees…they are all worthy in their own way…but I also agree Mr. Strait’s entire body of work is the most deserving this year….JMO
August 15, 2025 @ 12:49 pm
Right! Stop pouting and get over it. Trump is our president and there is not much you whiners can do about it. We have always elected a president that not everyone is in agreement with, but this is the first time that folks are reluctant to favor anything that concerns Trump because of the backlash they will receive from Trump “haters”. You even have shows like Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel who hate on the president on live TV! Stephen Colbert even cried when Trump was elected. Lol!! Anything for ratings. I congratulate the honorees and hope they decide to do what they please.
August 17, 2025 @ 10:17 am
Obama didn’t need to fire them. They were all radical Lefties like him.
August 15, 2025 @ 4:10 am
Has nothing to do with George. Trump is all you people think about. It’s actually pretty pathetic, that he is the center of your universe, you can’t live one day, without his name in your mouth. It must suck to be you.
August 15, 2025 @ 12:50 pm
George Strait deserves the honor. Trump is inconsequential as always.
August 15, 2025 @ 8:11 pm
@adam americana–
I’ve made clear my distatste for Trump, but that’s all a bunch of bullspit.
Not one woman has ever made a criminal sexual assault complaint against Donald Trump. Zero. None, Nada, Zilch Ephess. All there are are bunch of claims made in the media by women who had not necessarily spent time with him or even knew him. Like a woman who claimed Trum molested her on a commercial airline flight years earlier. There was no evidence that Trump had ever flown on the same plane as her, let alone assaulted her.
One of the most ridiculous ones was the one by E. Jean Carroll, a woman whom Trump did not know. At most, he met her at a public event and posed for a photo with her. Carroll–as anyone who follows the news heard–sued Trump and claimed that some 20 years earlier, in the 1990s, she was shopping at Bergdorf Goodman’s clothing/department store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan–across the street and a blocs away from Trump Tower, where Trump lived–and Donald Trump followed her into a changing room and raped her. The idea that Donald Trump–one of the biggest celebrities in New York at the time–would traipse into Bergdorf’s without being noticed and follow a woman into a changing room and sexually assault her is implausible or highly unlikely on its face. At the very least, for it to be believed, it should require substantial evidence. But Carroll had nothing and could not even state the YEAR, let alone the date, when it happened. [If she had give a date, then Trump might well have been able to provide and alibi.] Carroll won the lawsuit because Trump is a jerk and spewed his usual insults about her being ugly and not his type, and blew up at his deposition, rather than remaining calm and mounting a proper defense. And Trump hired a mob lawyer to represent him.
August 16, 2025 @ 2:49 pm
And wants to add HIS NAME to the Center as well as MELANOMIA’s to the performing arts theater.
God help us once he gets his tiny little vulgar hands on the building and starts “ improvements” . He’s already desecrated the Oval Office so now it looks like the lair of some dipshit Middle Eastern potentate with dictatorial tendencies or a replica of his WAR CRIME committing buddy , Vlad’s office in the Kremlin.
He’s an egotistical , self-aggrandizing, pathological liar with HORRIBLE taste! 🤮
August 16, 2025 @ 2:54 pm
Hey Mark,
You’ve made this same exact point 3 or 4 times now. Let’s please move on.
August 17, 2025 @ 10:20 am
You’re vulgarity has Trump’s beat by miles.
August 16, 2025 @ 3:04 pm
The HOLDER of the OFFICE of POTUS is the one charged with “ honoring” that office – not the people.
Trump has desecrated the OFFICE all by himself .
He is NOT a king , regardless of the fact he thinks he is.
Respect is earned , not DEMANDED.
Ironic that the most despicable person-morally, ethically, and politically -to ever hold the office is the one most demanding that people “ respect “ him.
I know all MAGA ( because that’s what comprises the current GOP, no Republicans left) are up in arms because the MAJORITY of Americans refuse to acknowledge their derangement re: the Emperor’s new clothes, but we are not going back to the docile, well-mannered days of “ when they go low, we go high”. We will continue to vociferously stand against this POS and call out his BS as soon as he spouts it.
Get used to it.
August 17, 2025 @ 4:52 am
He was found guilty and convicted.
August 27, 2025 @ 6:43 pm
Yet, a jury found him liable. Were you an alternate juror at the trial? Saw all the evidence? Don’t like our jury system? Are you calling the jury a pack of liars?
August 16, 2025 @ 6:12 am
I think he should accept the award, but have it mailed to him at his ranch.
August 16, 2025 @ 11:06 am
Absolutely not!, “Eric” if that is your real name. The George Strait that fans and even some foes, unfortunately, have come to know, believe that George and Norma will show up – as expected – because they believe in abiding by set rules and hopefully “teaching by example” what to do in out of control moments like this and that is to show up and represent what one stands for and to take back one’s life to control the narrative. Tune into the Kennedy Center Induction ceremony on CBS News channel in December 2025 to watch history in the making. The induction of the real American Cowboy and hero to millions of people all over the world into the Kennedy Center Honors induction ceremony. Thank you all for supporting the George and Norma Strait’s legacy life story.
August 14, 2025 @ 1:07 pm
Not KISS. Anything but KISS.
August 15, 2025 @ 7:24 am
KISS had a massive influence on the Rock and Metal world not to mention changing the live concert landscape over the last 50 yrs. Oh and ….. Gene and Paul wrote many great songs. They deserve to be honored.
August 19, 2025 @ 8:01 am
Garth Brooks is basically James Taylor with the combined stage shows of Chris LeDoux and KISS.
August 14, 2025 @ 2:33 pm
Love how you and others like you can tolerate fascism and just call what people are feeling about Trump and what he’s doing to the United States and the planet ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome ‘ I guess you also won’t care about all of the other things happening to the prestige of the United States as well, all of which will make it isolated and alone in a few years time.
Oh well,enjoy the show/love-fest.
August 14, 2025 @ 4:33 pm
If isolation means no more foreign aid, sign me up. I am tired of paying for every other country’s budget.
August 14, 2025 @ 11:15 pm
Whose countries’ entire budgets does the United States bankroll?
August 16, 2025 @ 12:33 pm
Do you know how ignorant you sound?
The USA ‘s foreign aid has always been about 1-1.5% of the Federal budget and has always represented one of the best returns of any monies spent.
It is amazing to me that you MAGAts regurgitate such idiocy without an iota of knowledge of facts.
Sure you’re all for spending the $800M-$1B for rebuilding the tacky Qatari “ gifted” jet which Dump will take for his exclusive, personal use when he leaves office. Ridiculous how sycophantic you all are to a man who cares ZERO for anyone other than himself and his co-conspiring oligarchs -and finds his base “ uneducated” and “ low-intelligence individuals”- BTW, HIS words not mine.
August 27, 2025 @ 6:54 pm
I agree with you about Trump but I don’t see what good denying George Strait his well deserved honor would do. We need to pick our battles and this ain’t one
August 17, 2025 @ 5:05 am
During his first term in the Oval Office, Donald Trump added nearly $8 trillion to the national debt. That was more than 43 presidents had combined to accumulate during the first 216 years of the Republic.
He promised you he would pay it down, yet Trump’s domestic spending measure will add more than $4 trillion to the national debt over 10 years.
He’s lowering it, he’s raising it. Trump is the worst President in history….facts that he proves every day.
August 17, 2025 @ 5:09 am
You voted for it, when you voted for Trump.
He’s raised the national debt more than any President in history. What he has done in the last 8 months will raise it $4 trillion over the next 10 year.
Trump said he loves the uneducated…
August 17, 2025 @ 10:19 am
I think it’s appropriate to evaluate debt added by adjusting for GDP. Obviously a marginal $ meant a lot more a century ago than it does today.
By that measure FDR added the most – Debt/GDP rose from 42% in 1941 to 114% in 1945.
Of course that ignores WWII – just like evaluating Trump 1.0 without acknowledging the Pandemic (i.e. shutdowns collapsed GDP and required a ton of borrowing).
August 17, 2025 @ 1:29 pm
“The uneducated’ you said “A”, how does his meeting with Putin helps the so called ‘uneducated’, but himself?. Worst scenario since he credits himself for personally picking the Kennedy Center Honorees, are they “uneducated” too?. The fact of the matter is that our American elections system is a joke and has been broken. For example, The Biden-Harris election comes to mind. Personally, it’s a blur and should never have happened without the help of CNN’s Jake Tapper. How soon we forget what tangled webs we wave-something like that!
August 15, 2025 @ 6:25 am
Any of these nominees? You think KISS and Sly Stallone are worthy of this? I mean, look at that list of country artists that Trigger pointed out who have won it previously, look at George Strait, and then think about KISS. Look at actors and moviemakers who have won – Al Pacino, Lily Tomlin, Francis Ford Coppola, Norman Lear, Julie Andrews, Steve Martin, and then look at Stallone.
George Strait deserves this.
August 16, 2025 @ 8:50 am
Everything Trump touches turns into DRAMA he wants to be in everything. George Strait is a decent, good man, never any trash talk about him or from him, He deserves the award too bad a piece of trash will be presenting it. Trump has the morals of an alley cat. Money can’t buy CLASS Donald J Trump!!!
August 27, 2025 @ 6:59 pm
Before Tulsa King I’d have agreed with you about Stallone. But he is hilarious in it.
August 19, 2025 @ 9:51 pm
This year’s honorees are stellar, George king of country Strait , Sylvester the real Rocky Stallone, Gloria I will survive Gaynor,Michael phantom Crawford and Kiss crazyness all great artists in there own right . It’s a diverse collection. Congratulations to all of you
All respected by your many fans and all citizens.
It is a great honor to be bestowed upon.
August 14, 2025 @ 11:56 am
100% Country!
Respect and Thanks to King George Strait from Switzerland.
August 14, 2025 @ 12:01 pm
i’ve been waiting for Strait to be honored for Y E A R S! long, long overdue, even though you say it’s at the perfect time in his career. either way he has been a great example of what i wish every entertainer / celebrity was like. just do your thing, I don’t need to know how you vote or even your opinion on things. it’s why he is so admired across the board. he’s honest to his music.
August 14, 2025 @ 12:23 pm
A good chunk of the performances I have seen in the past honoring the inductee have been tough to watch (Cher’s induction comes to mind). And then you have amazing ones like Heart with Led Zeppelin that I still watch on YouTube a few times a year. As much as people have issues with who the inductees are, I’m often scratching my head at the performers honoring them. Let’s hope they don’t mess it up with George’s induction performances. He absolutely deserves to be an inductee. Do we know how the performers are chosen for this? Is it a ‘follow the money’ type of situation?
August 20, 2025 @ 9:19 pm
I feel the same about the Led Zeppelin tribute and also watch it probably once a month still. I know that not all of the performances are as great as that one though. It’s so nice when they get a good performer to honor someone and to see the honoree faces watching them. I can’t imagine who they would have to honor George Strait actually. Hopefully it won’t be all young artists.
August 14, 2025 @ 12:25 pm
I’m sure there are other tweets that say similar things, but this is kind of a strawman situation going on here, Trig. Not sure a tweet from bbrosmarty deserves this much run
August 14, 2025 @ 12:50 pm
The impetus for this article was definitely not this single tweet (officially, it was from Threads), any more than it was the article in “The Daily Beast.” I simply posted these things to be illustrative of some of the sentiments out there.
August 15, 2025 @ 12:59 pm
That’s fair. I just still feel those are marginal voices and entertaining them only adds to the politically charged nature of the discussion. But this is your website and obviously you know best what people want to read—and further, I’ve never gotten the sense that’s what drives your content anyway. You feel strongly about it and you do you.
August 14, 2025 @ 12:32 pm
Trump could pick Maren Morris, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Stipe, Green Day and Taylor Swift, and still get called a fascist by most people on the left.
August 14, 2025 @ 12:57 pm
Sadly, you’re correct.
August 14, 2025 @ 1:08 pm
tRump IS a fascist. There’s no way around that.
August 14, 2025 @ 1:47 pm
You dont know what a fascist is. Idiots
August 14, 2025 @ 2:51 pm
Here’s the definition, numbnuts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
August 14, 2025 @ 3:21 pm
No more comments on this thread. If this comments section just descends into back and forths, it’s going to get shut down.
August 14, 2025 @ 4:52 pm
Really Wikipedia? What they tell kids NOT use as a source on a school assignment 😂
August 15, 2025 @ 3:59 am
I’m well aware of what a fascist is, which is how I know tRump is a fascist.
August 15, 2025 @ 6:42 am
I’m still waiting for him to jail his political opponents without trial and shut down MSNBCNN.
August 15, 2025 @ 12:31 pm
Why do you keep writing Trump’s name tRump? Im not a maga supporter, I hate Trump, just wondering why you were writing it like thart.
August 15, 2025 @ 10:02 am
maybe he’s a fascist, but he’s a fascist who made a really really good choice on who to honor at the Kennedy center this year 😉
August 14, 2025 @ 1:45 pm
I don’t want to use terms like “fascist” here. I just have one question: Do you generally think it’s a good thing for a president to fire the board of trustees of a cultural institution and to install himself as the chairman? – In general, regardless of his political orientation.
And do you think this is a typical, normal process in democratic systems? Do you know of comparable processes or situations in other democracies?
August 14, 2025 @ 2:48 pm
Akade, they don’t care, but eventually they all will do so when the accumulated consequences of Trump’s policies will hit the nation like a hammer (heck,it’s already doing so in a lot of areas like tourism and farming.) My fear is that people like you will get hurt too before too long,but hopefully the mid-term elections next year will lame-duck Trump and make it hard for him to carry his fascism out any further.
August 14, 2025 @ 3:50 pm
Really does not bother me. As Trigger pointed out in the article, a lot of past picks were “probably” rewards for their political affiliations and support. It’s six one way half a dozen the other whether the president actually hand picks them.
August 14, 2025 @ 1:51 pm
Because thetly love throwing around words like fascist. These boneheads have no clue what the word even means. My parents grew up under fascism and nazi occupation during WWII. They experienced what it really means
August 14, 2025 @ 2:25 pm
why didn’t your parents tell you about it and how it played out?
August 14, 2025 @ 2:35 pm
Correct. The word “fascist” is used in an inflationary way almost everywhere today. Trump is a “fascist”, woke activists are “left-wing fascists”, the Israeli government is “Zionist fascist”, the Palestinians are “Islamic fascists”, the mullahs are “clerical fascists”.and so on… and so on…
If the Duce had known that…🤭
August 14, 2025 @ 3:40 pm
We have military checkpoints in DC, not because we are under attack but because Trump is looking for a fight. Hayes Carll, Sierra Ferrell and Turnpike will all be visiting DC in the next few months and I imagine there will be thousands of fans at those shows who won’t feel any more or less safe than the last time these artists visited. All the wannabe militia folk out there were training for this exact moment but because it is happening in “blue” cities not a peep.
August 14, 2025 @ 4:57 pm
Is it unconstitutional? Nope. Your “militia folk” are supposed be protecting against federal overreach, not constitutional law.
August 15, 2025 @ 4:19 am
@ SP
“Federal Overreach” you say?
You do realize that tRump is trying to claim control over the D.C. police, something he has no authority to do. How is that not “federal overreach” in your definition?
August 20, 2025 @ 8:13 am
Nobody’s ‘throwing around’ anything; this is fascism, plain and simple. That nobody here realizes this is saying something.
August 14, 2025 @ 2:24 pm
would picking maren morris, bono, bruce springsteen, michael stipe, green day and taylor swift somehow negate all the fascist stuff he is doing?
August 14, 2025 @ 4:34 pm
He isn’t doing any fascist stuff.
Labeling stuff as fascist doesn’t make it so.
August 14, 2025 @ 4:59 pm
you say you’re a big history buff and yet we are experiencing the rise, just like in germany. history does repeat.
August 15, 2025 @ 4:03 am
Just remember, thegentile…as of the time of this comment, there are 95 comments on this post. That number is higher than the IQ of the average tRump supporter.
August 15, 2025 @ 6:37 am
Ah, the “cry wolf” crowd has shown up again.
You do know that the OG fascists were socialists dressed in black? And looking at today’s socialists they’ve gone full circle.
August 15, 2025 @ 7:35 am
there go the super smart maga folk again. the nazi’s were socialists? why? because they said so? what part of their policies and rule were socialist exactly? was it the extreme nationalism? was it their suppression of socialist and communist movements in germany?
August 15, 2025 @ 10:33 am
Dude, learn to read before commenting in that smug lefty way. Like Ricky Gervais said: you’re in no position to lecture anyone about anything.
That said: George Strait deserves the honour.
August 16, 2025 @ 10:09 am
Saying everything and everyone is the next Hitler doesn’t make it so.
August 14, 2025 @ 7:17 pm
You’re simply wrong.
August 15, 2025 @ 6:29 am
It would just mean he has very bad taste in music.
August 20, 2025 @ 8:22 am
None of these people are named in this year’s honours, and in any case, none of them would accept the summons to do so, Springsteen in particular (and Tom Cruise turned it down.) Looks like some famous people realise that there’s a price above rubies.
August 14, 2025 @ 2:58 pm
For a lot of good reasons that.never entered your neocon MAGA Moron mind, of course ( no wonder people say the United States ‘ educational system is broken.) What wasn’t evident to you,the founding up and deportation of Latino people,or the fact that he now has the National Guard on the streets of many cities? How clueless can you and others like you be?
August 14, 2025 @ 4:59 pm
I thought they just said the educational system was broken due to the amount of grammatical errors in your comment
August 20, 2025 @ 8:27 am
No, it’s broken because nobody seemed to have learned about fascism in school.
As for my errors, I’m typing on a tablet,so some errors are bound to happen.
August 15, 2025 @ 9:06 am
FWIW, neocons do not like Trump. They think Russia/Ukraine is this generation’s most meaningful conflict. I have this discussion often with friends who supported Reagan/Bush. This might the issue they diverge furthest with the President. Even more than our out-of-control budget.
August 14, 2025 @ 3:25 pm
This! Look at the debate currently raging in DC. Trump federalized the police response to combat rising crime. Democrats were forced to defend crime as a result. Several Democrats came out and said they all fell into the trap, that reflexively opposing anything trump says can sometimes lead to being on the wrong side of a clearly winning issue by trump. If you are defending crime, you have lost the argument. The trans sports issue also was something Democrats lost big on, because the issue isn’t controversial to the general public. The public overwhelmingly support trumps stance.
As he said in his state of the union address, he could cure cancer and Democrats would still oppose him.
It’s sad that Democrats act this way. You can be proud to celebrate a universally beloved artist in our genre who more than deserves this award.
Instead liberals complain and call him names.
I’m not sure if Democrats know this but “trump sucks” isn’t a campaign strategy nor does inspire the electorate to vote. They are really having trouble treading water right now.
August 14, 2025 @ 4:08 pm
Folks, let’s please not get into divisive political subjects that don’t have anything to do with the nature of this article. Trump was mentioned, so I get it. But talking about the DC situation has nothing to do with the Kennedy Center Honors. Thanks for your understanding.
August 14, 2025 @ 7:19 pm
You’re so lost. We have to stop normalizing what Trump is doing. It’s not fucking normal for this country.
August 15, 2025 @ 6:25 am
We all know what you lot think is ‘normal’.
August 15, 2025 @ 12:52 pm
@dave–Neither is saying the f-word for no effing reason whatsoever.
August 14, 2025 @ 12:34 pm
LQBTG throws a fit every time Straight is honored.
August 15, 2025 @ 8:17 am
Ummm…a clarification…
I’m a gay man who has listened to every Strait record (notice the spelling), and has seen him in concert multiple times. I’m not throwing any fit about this.
Don’t paint with such a broad brush.
August 15, 2025 @ 10:06 am
You don’t get the joke. “Straight” not Strait.
How do you know you are in an LQBTG bookstore?
A: There is no humor section.
August 15, 2025 @ 12:41 pm
Hello Hank33,
I usually find your jokes and puns very amusing. Honestly.
Sometimes you tell people here that they have no sense of humor. A question: Would you also laugh at jokes that mock your own milieu or political stance? Or do you just find it funny when it’s laughs at the expense of the more liberal camp?
After all, the funniest are those who can laugh at themselves, their own milieu, their own origins and their own convictions.
August 15, 2025 @ 6:42 pm
Akade,
I laugh at Schadenfreude — with a clear conscience.
August 15, 2025 @ 3:05 pm
To: “Hank 33”.Mr. ’Seen George Strait in concert multiple times’ well, get your mind out of the gutter, will you?. # I know what a George Strait’s concert sounds and feels like. He is that damn good, so don’t get things twisted, please.
August 16, 2025 @ 4:24 am
Hank 33,
Thank you for using “Schadenfreude”. Few other German words contain so much malice and it actually cannot be translated in its entire sense into other languages. But I think you’ve got a good sense of what the word means.😉
August 14, 2025 @ 12:37 pm
Gloria Gaynor.
What a Powerhouse.
Congratulations to Miss Gaynor on this incredibly deserved nomination!
August 14, 2025 @ 1:20 pm
The Kennedy Center basically ignored country music for over a decade after its first awards ceremony. It was former President Geo. H.W. Bush and his love for the genre that finally made it happen. And just in time as well as Acuff died less than a year later.
Then it went to Cash and that generation. Tennessee Ernie Ford, Bill Monroe, Kitty Wells and Minnie Pearl I feel should have had the honor. But the dragging of the feet of the Kennedy Center did not allow.
Others just passed away too soon, namely Waylon and Conway,
George is a perfect recipient, and yes I agree, he was on a “must” list regardless who was president.
For me Stallone is the least deserving. Yes, Rocky, Rambo, all blockbusters but no mind blowing acting as in the case of past honorees, Cagney, Stewart, Hanks, etc. He’s just not in the same boat. I’d place him with Burt Reynolds, iconic in their own right, but not KCH material.
August 14, 2025 @ 2:01 pm
Bill Monroe would have been a great pick. I was thinking Ricky Skaggs might be a future honoree because of his dedication to preserving bluegrass music after his commercial career faded. Bill Monroe should have been honored before, as we’ve had Presidents from the South not long ago.
August 14, 2025 @ 3:22 pm
The artists that I think should have been honored that weren’t were Bill Monroe, Conway Twitty, and Charley Pride. Monroe and Twitty didn’t really fit the profile, but Pride certainly did.
The next I think to be named will be Alan Jackson.
August 14, 2025 @ 6:37 pm
I say Alan Jackson as #1 and Vince Gill as #1A. They’ve both transcended the genre while largely staying true to their roots.
Charley is a big time snub and Bill Monroe could have gone in on the same track as Roy Acuff did. Bluegrass is accepted as an American genre – albeit one with roots in Irish, blues, and jazz music. Plenty of jazz and blues artists have been honored over the years. In my opinion, Conway became more of a commercial artist in the 80’s with his 70’s work being more substantive. Alabama could have been a consideration but, like you said about Bill and Conway, they don’t fit the profile.
August 14, 2025 @ 9:24 pm
Vince Gill? What a joke.
August 15, 2025 @ 3:31 am
Had Trump not been re-elected, I think the next country musician to receive a Kennedy Center Honor would have been George Straight, Emmylou Harris, or Vince Gill.
August 14, 2025 @ 9:57 pm
I disagree respectfully on Stallone. He has three Oscar nominations (which surprises a lot of people) and has two iconic franchises. He deserves it and I saw that having never seen a Rocky or Rambo movie. I’m not even particularly a fan of his but respect the talent. He’s not a Jimmy Stewart or Katherine Hepburn but nobody else is either.
I am a fan of Burt Reynolds and he would have been deserving also. He was a considerable talent and made a ton of entertaining movies and one very solid sitcom. As the saying goes…everybody loved him but the critics.
The entire list this year is deserving. Three fields of music are represented. Although I know next to nothing about Miss Gaynor and relatively little about KISS I know who they are and the impact they had on their respective genres.
Michael Crawford I knew from Phantom and his accomplishments are solid.
Strait is a no brainer.
I agree completely that country artists were overlooked previously. Bill Monroe did get an award from President Clinton near the end of his life and immediately committed a breach of protocol by taking the podium and speaking. Classic Monroe and I love him for it.
August 15, 2025 @ 2:26 am
Ol’ Burt had too much fun to be considered worthy of any awards.
You better be glum and smug and/or caving to whatever political trend that rules the showbiz if you want to be recognized in a positive way by the critics.
Both sides did wrong through the times. What really matter, isn’t the political color, but the political actions.
A dictature will always end up the same; the ones in power will protect themselves from the peasants by the way of violence. Almost every country upon this earth experienced a dictature one time.
August 15, 2025 @ 7:01 pm
Stallone wrote Rocky, setting him above mere actors.
August 14, 2025 @ 1:24 pm
POTUS political posturing aside, this is great news for George and for everyone that loves country music.
If anything, George kind of seemed a bit preppy at the start of his career. Clean cut, clean shaven and college educated, he was humble and unassuming, despite his leading man looks. He seemed almost apologetic about being a rising star when his career was exploding.
He didn’t become a movie star or even a working actor after Pure Country didn’t break him through on the big screen. He sort of became country music’s Neil Diamond, a la “The Jazz Singer”. The movie didn’t make it big but the soundtrack was a huge hit giving him a few more banner hits in a stratospheric career. Acting wasn’t the vehicle; the movie just reminded us why we loved in the first place. Besides, isn’t being George Strait awesome enough by itself?
He’s aged gracefully in what so often feels like a graceless age where so many want to be famous without anything to add to our culture.
His protest song, “Murder on Music Row” was a salient, pointed and dignified all at the same time. Who else but he and Alan Jackson could do that so naturally?
As Trigger has written here before, George isn’t just a performer. He loves music and needs to perform and create because he’s made for this. Let’s just be thankful and show George and country music at large some respect and keep the political nonsense out of this. One of our best and brightest is getting a great cultural honor that will be getting broader attention than pretty much anything else out there. Just enjoy it.
August 15, 2025 @ 9:10 am
Well said. Thank you for a non-political take on this. I’m very happy for George and his family. George has survived a lot of heartache in his life and I hope these well-deserved awards bring him and his family some comfort.
Thank you for all the great music, King George!
August 14, 2025 @ 1:42 pm
he, and the others, should be careful trump doesn’t take their medals like he did with the fifa trophy.
August 15, 2025 @ 4:23 am
Dude, shut up!!! Damn, you got trump on the brain!!!
August 15, 2025 @ 6:07 pm
You’re in a cult
August 14, 2025 @ 1:47 pm
Being honored along with KISS kinda makes the whole thing seem silly. But when you elect a clown……..
August 14, 2025 @ 5:02 pm
You say that as if KISS was not a huge act that influenced many other bands/singers, whether you like them or not
August 15, 2025 @ 2:35 am
I seriously doubt that Trump is a glam-rock fan.
I also doubt that Trump had any saying in the picks. That decision was made long before he took the office anyway. The lobbyism started many years ago.
Said another way; when was the last time an “best picture” Oscar winner was the best movie that year? 1980’s Ordinary People?
August 15, 2025 @ 4:25 am
Here’s another one!! No matter the subject, they will bring up trump, it must be terrible, to have someone on your mind so much, how do you sleep at night?
August 14, 2025 @ 1:54 pm
Truth be told, King George has been
Remarkably consistent over the last 40+ years.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock,
Most people would say he’s the most deserving
Performer or artist to be granted this award.
August 14, 2025 @ 1:56 pm
We have to protect our own at all cost and from experience!. I strongly agree with writer bbrosmarty: “George Strait as a willing fascist propaganda tool was not something I could have ever foreseen on all those dance halls of my youth” Powerful statement that will shake George Strait to the core. He will never abandon his roots and the people who stood by him through thick and thin.. Something for George and Norma to think about. However, whatever you decide l will be with you no matter what. I promise.
August 14, 2025 @ 2:13 pm
Totally agree that King George is WAY overdue for this honor and has deserved it for years. If I may provide a bit of additional information…two provisions of receiving a KCH is that you be alive and agree to attend the ceremony, thus it’s coordinated with the recipients in advance. All presidents are polarizing, but Trump has (purposely) been more so, including his lack of continuing fiscal support for the arts. He fired all the Kennedy Center Board ( some of whom were there in his first term) and replaced them with his wealthy donors and friends , an unprecedented move. With those factors at play, the award has, unfortunately for George, become more overtly political than before. (Would be willing to bet that one-hit only Gaynor is there because she is the only pop music personality that would agree to attend). Luckily for all of us, George’s music will long outlive any political wake attached to his recognition.
August 14, 2025 @ 2:15 pm
I am so proud to be a George Straight fan! He is the king of country music for a reason as you country music fans know. He truly deserves this honor and its a long time coming! Please, just let him be honored. He is a good man who is so generous and caring. He is a very private and humble cowboy! Congratulations George Straight! Love you!
August 14, 2025 @ 7:20 pm
So much of a fan you misspelled his name twice? Come on.
August 15, 2025 @ 1:01 pm
The misspelling was in honor of Trump.
August 15, 2025 @ 2:05 pm
SCM’s very own Stephen Colbert, ladies and gentlemen!
August 14, 2025 @ 2:17 pm
Fun country music history fact… The iconic Hatch Show Print sign that used to hang on Broadway, and now resides outside the CMHAF, was paid for by the profit Hatch Show Print made off of all the posters Roy Acuff orders when he was running for governor.
August 14, 2025 @ 2:59 pm
As someone who voted for Trump in 2020 and 2024 this is the type of political “issue” that annoys me the most. This is the stupidist kind of distraction that just distracts people from important issues that I actually care about, which sadly most of those aren’t going to come to fruition since our government is controlled by Isreal, and the factions of our government that created Covid will never face justice, the Epstein list and all it’s clients will forever be hidden, and AI technology will render us all as useful as the adult tigers in Tiger King that get shot in the middle of the night because they were too expensive to feed.
August 14, 2025 @ 4:39 pm
People are stupid enough nowadays to let silly cultural issues divide them or claim meaningless victories.
The Sweeney ad isn’t some win for conservatism. It only appears that way because the Left has grown so unhinged that they see fascism everywhere. It is a milquetoast ad with a good pun. That is all.
Like you said, Israel, COVID justice, the Epstein list, AI, and illegal immigration are core issues, but hey let’s tear each other apart over ads and Kennedy Center honors.
A republic (not a democracy) if you can keep it said Franklin. Modern Americans aren’t worthy.
August 14, 2025 @ 8:26 pm
The Sweeney ad wasn’t a win for conservatism. It was an indicator of identity politics and self censoring losing it’s grip on the culture. The overwhelming majority of white men, and a majority of black men – which I would wager a lot on – find Sydney Sweeney more attractive than the overweight and androgynous “models” that have been shoved down our throats for nearing 10 years now in advertising and media.
It kinda feels like the early 2000’s are back and people can be offensive again. The truth is often offensive. The word “Facism” is being thrown around in place of “sexism” and “racism” as if the Excel ‘Find and Replace’ command was used to replace them because they were repeated ad nauseam and the intended targets no longer care.
As far as politics go I’ve been feeling very fatalistic but I have hope for the moderate populist part of American culture and how it’s in our DNA to speak our minds.
August 14, 2025 @ 4:58 pm
Ahahahaha ahahaha aha! So true!
August 14, 2025 @ 3:09 pm
I could care less about political views, politics does not make someone a bad entertainer, it just makes them human.
If you don’t like some one just for their politics, then I think that is sad, you are missing out on some great talent.
One thing where I draw the line is the Dixie chicks or now Chicks. People sending them and their kids death threats, just because they didn’t like President Bush? If you don’t like a singer for their beliefs, then don’t listen to them. But to threaten them and their kids with death threats is just because they don’t share your beliefs, is not only wrong, it is dangerous.
You need serious mental help if you feel the way about any entertainer who maybe liberal or conservative. I cannot believe that there are so many people in this society that would hate someone so much , just for their beliefs, that people would want to kill them
Yes George strait deserves this award, and I could care less which side of the political spectrum he falls on. Why should it matter? So are people telling me the only reason you like a certain entertainer is their political beliefs and if they disagree with the way you think, then they deserve to be killed?; I hate politics, I don’t like either party, and I think it is sad that people harshly judge entertainers who don’t see eye to eye with their views.
Just like Carrie Underwood, some people will get mad at George. But why? I don’t judge my singers on who or how they vote.
If I want to see the chicks or Dixie chicks and Taylor Swift,I will, if I want to see Travis tritt and George strait, then I will. I don’t judge my taste in music on a singer’s political beliefs.
I judge them on their talent and if I like their singing. Politics is no reason to like or dislike a singer. It’s all about the singing for me .
August 20, 2025 @ 9:30 pm
Amen!
August 14, 2025 @ 3:17 pm
Well deserved. Strait is the King. He along with several other currently living country elders embodies our genre in such an important and dignified manner. All class, no frills traditional country music. As noted this specific pick had nothing to do with politics. Strait don’t overtly political in his music or his personal life, although it’s almost certain he leans republican. He never endorsed a candidate publicly last year.
Also as noted some of the picks seem to go against that this was a bunch of donors to the campaign, KISS being one of them.
Trump isn’t a country fan, his rally playlist is basically all classic rock. He’s never lived in a the country, or in a rural environment. He’s a lifelong city dweller. Aldean, and Lee Greenwood are supporters and friends of Trump but I doubt he listens to Amarillo Sky, the rest of Lee’s catalog or Amarillo by Morning in his spare time. It’s just not his vibe. Although he did oddly Truth that he’s a huge fan of Warren Zeiders, randomly, earlier this year. So maybe he is up on new country.
The last overt country fan in the Oval Office was incidentally George W Bush whose favorite artist a was George Strait. Trump and Obama weren’t and aren’t searching Whiskey Riff or turning on CMT even though obviously Trumps supporters are.
But I agree, liberals tend to think changing things means politicizing them. He changed the Kennedy Center, and so he’s politicizing it! He defunded NPR and PBS so he’s politicizing them! When in reality all were political before he even got into office. All are left leaning, liberal friendly, and Trump is merely balancing things out and allowing other programming to replace it. In 2022 or even 2017 when he was in office, would the Kennedy Center have welcomed Trump and MAGA friendly programming? Probably not. So I have no problem with this. Conservatives deserve culture and music catering to them too. Not everything needs to cater to the NPR Liberal crowd. .
Don’t forget he also awarded the Medal of Honor to Toby Keith and Ricky Skaggs a few days after Jan 6 so his awards to country artists seem to always be shrouded in controversy, although I have no issue with those honors either. Well deserved to them too.
Congrats to King George.
August 14, 2025 @ 6:36 pm
I say Alan Jackson as #1 and Vince Gill as #1A. They’ve both transcended the genre while largely staying true to their roots.
Charley is a big time snub and Bill Monroe could have gone in on the same track as Roy Acuff did. Bluegrass is accepted as an American genre – albeit one with roots in Irish, blues, and jazz music. Plenty of jazz and blues artists have been honored over the years. In my opinion, Conway became more of a commercial artist in the 80’s with his 70’s work being more substantive. Alabama could have been a consideration but, like you said about Bill and Conway, they don’t fit the profile.
August 14, 2025 @ 3:29 pm
Happy for George. All the haters can jump in a lake.
August 14, 2025 @ 4:40 pm
Looks like President Trump provided a more diverse list of honorees than the previous tolerant administration.
Generally that is how it ends up. The proclaimed most tolerant never are.
Hopefully, Alan Jackson is next.
August 14, 2025 @ 5:05 pm
Tolerate? Yes tell me how many Latino, Muslims and LGBTQ PEOPLE are there? Trump only tolerates the people who lick his boots. I am waiting for your list. And don’t bother listing Biden or Clinton, both sides are not tolerate of many people. All politicians care about is money and power. Again, cannot wait to see that list.
August 14, 2025 @ 4:59 pm
Of course George Strait is a fine pick for an award. Not that he needs it. It’s not like he’s gone unrewarded and unrecognized.
I’m not going to watch because I just find the guy who’s giving the award to be incredibly self-indulgent and depressing. (That doesn’t mean I didn’t vote for him–once in three elections–simply because I thought the opposing party’s policies would be worse than his.)
I think the Kennedy Center honors should celebrate classical music performers at least as much as hundred-milliionaire/billionaire pop artists. They can use a bit of recognition. That’s how it was before, but the guy giving the awards has no interest in that. It was just reported that he’s planning on holding an MMA fight card at the White House. I don’t know if that’s true, but would anyone be surprised?
August 14, 2025 @ 5:00 pm
The only thing that gave me pause was Strait’s very close personal relationship with George H. W. Bush and the Bush family. Strait was a guest at the White House several times when 41 was in office and Bush is on Stait’s album Live from the Astrodome.
Trump has not been very kind to the Bush family. Even recently moving their portraits to an unused stairwell.
But that’s not political in nature.
August 14, 2025 @ 5:17 pm
George W. Bush will end up executed for High Treason when 9/11 is finally revealed.
Seen him lately?
August 14, 2025 @ 6:39 pm
Dick Cheney and Bush Sr. …… W still has no idea what happened….. W was the republicans Biden…. But a way better person
August 15, 2025 @ 7:08 pm
Skull and Bones like his CIA daddy.
The Bush family will be executed once they are captured in their Uruguay compound.
August 14, 2025 @ 5:21 pm
George Strait is the King of Country Music and Gloria Gaynor is the Queen of Disco! They both deserve this honor!!!
August 14, 2025 @ 5:23 pm
Nice to see them honoring artists who are both Straight and Gaynor.
August 14, 2025 @ 6:44 pm
Gaynor Straight
August 15, 2025 @ 6:37 am
At least it’s not Gaylord. (Yes, it’s a name)
August 15, 2025 @ 8:35 am
@sofus–
Gaylord Perry was a very good pitcher in the 1960s and ’70s,-300-plus-game winner, -Cy Young winner in both major leagues, threw a no-hitter, and H-o-F’er.
There was a famous journalist and author on politics and the mob then known as
Gay Talese. He was first-gen Italian American and it was short for Gaetano. I just looked him up. He’s 93 and still here. (His contemporaries, (Mailer, Breslin, Thompson, Puzo) are all gone.
I don’t remember those guys ever getting any guff over their names. (Gaylord Perry probably would have thrown a spitball at your head if you gave him any.)
It was only in the late-60s that “gay” started to take on its modern connotation, at least in the general media.
August 15, 2025 @ 1:22 pm
Yep, gay used to mean jolly, fun, easy-going etc.
August 14, 2025 @ 6:37 pm
Grait list! George and the others on the list deserve it. George has never done anything political. He played for Bush, but I am sure if asked he would play for any sitting president. I am glad he is being honored. He gets a lot of hate on this site for not writing all his hits, but I guess he has written some of his recent hits. Dude is awesome. He got Jim Lauderdale and Dean Dillion songs on the radio. Those are two great writers that certainly appreciate him cutting their material.
August 15, 2025 @ 4:44 am
So true Dogit.
I’ve often argued with the detractors, explaining that in it’s long history, Country music often makes a separation between the songwriter and the performer. But if you look at pop music of the past, it’s the same story. From the earliest years into the 50s, 60s, 70s , singers and performers more often than not , performed music written by someone else. Just for example, look at the entire Motown label, nearly all those songs were written by literally a handful of people. I’ve noticed that the criticism of Strait mainly comes from the younger demographic of urban dwelling folks who primarily listen to Americana. The folks who believe that Townes Van Zandt and Gram Parsons were superstars. Its basically a highly skewed and unrealistic take on Country music.
Almost none of these critics grew up listening to mainstream radio Country, more often than not they grew up listening to some form of Rock primarily, and then discovered ” Country music” by way of Alt- Country, Johnny Cash, Wilco, Son Volt, or later names like Sierra Ferrell, Crockett and others. Then they literally can’t understand why anyone listens to ” singers or performers who don’t write.
And you can’t change their minds, they really believe that talent is defined only by songwriting.
Good for Strait on this honor. I’ve never particularly cared about Kennedy Center Honors, so im pretty unexcited. But that’s just me.
August 14, 2025 @ 8:39 pm
George Strait is certainly worthy of the Kennedy Centre honours,but Gloria Gaynor,while unknown to folk under fifty,was a disco queen of the 1970’s who brilliantly covered Michael Jackson’s hit “Never Can Say Goodbye,” and became famous for her ladies’ anthem,” I Will Survive.”
August 14, 2025 @ 10:16 pm
Thanks, Kyle, for a reasonable common sense take on this. It makes me very sad to see the comments here turn into political mud slinging. Two threads at the Steve Hoffman forums have gotten locked because of posters choosing not to the celebrate the honorees but instead bashing whoever has a different viewpoint.
I’m old enough to have lived under multiple presidents of both parties and remember when the announcements resulted in folks praising the recipients and if they weren’t familiar with them, taking the opportunity to learn about them. It’s the wide diversity of honorees over the years that makes learning about them so rewarding.
I’m a country fan so it’s obvious to me Mr. Strait is a no brainer. I never liked disco or R&R but am aware of Miss Gaynor and KISS and even if I can’t name their songs I know that fans of those genres have to be thrilled they are being recognized. KISS bashing is a popular sport but their influence and impact is undeniably real.
Mr. Stallone makes the kind of movies I generally don’t enjoy but I respect his talent and the fact he’s still a household name at almost 80 proves he has made an indelible impact on the culture. He does have three Academy Award nominations.
Mr. Crawford is known to me primarily for Phantom which was huge in its day. Reading up on him shows he had quite an impressive career. I see nothing wrong with his choice.
Congratulations to all and I’m especially pleased that Mr. Strait (and traditional country music) will receive much deserved national recognition from a very prestigious organization.
August 14, 2025 @ 10:32 pm
I have been a George Strait fan from the beginning. Not just for his music. As I read a bout him and Norma you could see they were a class act. No salatious stories. No constant news about them. Just the music. And that’s why he deserves this award.
August 14, 2025 @ 11:51 pm
I come here to get away from politics. No such luck.
August 15, 2025 @ 12:00 am
So, will this event be boycotted?
August 15, 2025 @ 12:20 pm
If choosing not to participate or not to watch constitutes a “boycott,” then you can say the event is being boycotted by some. Trump boycotted Biden’s inauguration. Biden (and Harris, etc.) did not boycott Trump’s. “Kennedy Center Honors” do not have quite the constituttional significance of a presidential inauguration.
August 15, 2025 @ 3:49 pm
To: “Sofus”: No sir, no boycott whatsoever. The show must go on as a celebratory event to American culture and people who make her great in music and the arts entertainment like our Traditional Country Music Legend: King George Strait who has been rightfully recognized by his peers long ago.
August 15, 2025 @ 4:42 am
Deserving or not, the honor will.always be tainted with an asterisk.
August 15, 2025 @ 7:10 am
I really don’t think that’s going to be the case for any of these performers, and I also hope it isn’t. We can all go back and forth about their respective qualifications. But the artists don’t deserve that. These were all picks who were probably already in the Kennedy Center pipeline, and all who reach the apex in their respective fields.
August 15, 2025 @ 5:05 am
1. I agree. George Strait is more than deserving. I’m happy for him and country music.
2. The data is pretty clear. Despite concealing their motives, the left-leaning bias of the board is evident in the data. I used a well known and popular AI to sort by party and stated political leanings of every honoree since the inception of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978.
Here’s what I found:
Totals by Political Lean
Left-leaning: 130
Right-leaning: 21
Neutral/Unknown: 88
What This Shows:
Over 45 years, the Honors have skewed toward artists perceived as progressive or socially liberal—about 54% of all honorees.
Conservative or right-leaning artists make up under 9%, often reflecting the general tendency of performing-arts professionals to favor Democratic or liberal causes.
Nearly 37% of recipients maintain a publicly apolitical stance or lack clear indicators of partisan alignment.
I realize mistaking correlation with causation is a major flaw in any kind of rigorous analysis, but I also know that where there’s smoke there is likely to be fire.
So, Tigger, when you say it was “probably” political beforeTrump, it feels like minimizing. And when you come down so absolutely on Trump’s political moves, which are at least transparent by design, it feels like picking sides. It’s your website. Do what you want, but if you are claiming neutrality, you occasionally have to give the devil his due. At least one longtime member of your audience would find it refreshing and endearing.
August 15, 2025 @ 7:16 am
You can do things subtly, or you can do things obviously. The political leanings of the Kennedy Center Honors previously were subtle. What Trump did was pretty obviously political, and he pretty much said so in his press conference. I didn’t write this after doing some deep, data-driven dive into the Kennedy Center Board members because I just don’t care enough about it. I do think Trump politicized this moment. But as I went on to say, I don’t think the actual picks themselves are very political at all. I also think they’re generally deserved (we can argue about KISS). I don’t have a dog in this race. I’m just calling balls and strikes here. Thanks for the data breakdown.
August 16, 2025 @ 10:14 am
All Trump did was admit his process was political like every other Kennedy Honors list. Only Trump had the courage or gumption to admit it rather than hide behind a lie of “non-bias.”
August 15, 2025 @ 5:51 am
…among the biggest no-brainer in the world – this decision is one of them.
August 15, 2025 @ 6:25 am
The article was too long, didn’t read. Why is everyone fighting in here? Saw the article was about George Strait. I’m assuming the arguing is becase ‘Check yes or no’ is a super boring song. Am I on the right track?
August 15, 2025 @ 1:38 pm
The song sucks.
Unfortunally, it paid for Strait’s third yacht, a new LearJet, a mansion in Portugal, a new tailor-made wardrobe for his wife, two Mercedez SEL’s, the complete line of Wrangler jeans, the (at the time) latest sportswatch and a dozen eggs.
That’s the problem with subpar songs; you can bet your grandma that the song will become a hit (people loves stupid songs, just look at the recent Billboard list). And when it becomes a hit, you’re stuck with it.
Be careful when picking songs. At that point in his career, Strait could have released the Alphabet Song and still hit no. 1. I like Strait, but yes, it’s a dumb song. Strait deserves better.
August 15, 2025 @ 4:05 pm
Ahahahaha! To:”Sofus” The song “Check Yes Or No” is not a silly song to most people especially to George Strait’s fans. The song is a classic and American as American pie. He should have been nominated for the Kennedy Center Award when the song was first released.
August 16, 2025 @ 2:07 am
It’s a dumb and silly song liked by dumb and silly folks.
That’s ok, been that way for ages (see; Al Jolson etc.).
August 15, 2025 @ 6:29 am
What seems to be lost in this discussion is that for the FIRST TIME this year the Kennedy Center was a victim of a hostile takeover. Never before has a President taken full and total control of that institution, installed himself as the sole dictator & decision maker and has begun to remake that organization in HIS image. Only the Sexual Predator-In-Chief has the final say regarding what acts can play that venue or who can receive the Kennedy Center Honor.
Further it has been proposed that great cultural institution be officially re-named for HIM and that the opera house building be renamed for the worst First Lady in American history!
Even worse the Convicted Felon has appointed himself as the host for the televised Kennedy Center honoree ceremonies. So it’s impossible to make the case that this is NOT 100% political in every possible way.
For the next four years regardless of how deserving or worthy the acts may be, the Kennedy Center honorees will always be tainted with an asterisk attached to their name. Instead of being freely and honestly chosen by the Kennedy Center board WITHOUT the rubber stamp of the chief executive, they were hand-picked by just ONE PERSON whose choice was then blindly endorsed by a group of pathetic sycophants.
Let’s be clear, one of the major objectives of the White House Culture Warriors is to attempt to reshape American culture and society to the image that THEY endorse. But the reality is that has never worked in the past and will ultimately fail again in the 21st century. Make no mistake that there will be another re-set in three-and-a-half years to restore democracy and freedom to our formerly great country.
Strait is a registered Republican so the question must be asked, if he were not would he have been considered or approved this year? Unfortunately for George he had the exceptionally bad fortune to be awarded this well-deserved honor during America’s darkest autocratic era. That will forever diminish the luster of that honor for him and for all of the other honorees for the next four years.
August 15, 2025 @ 7:22 am
Country DJ,
I’m not sure the point of Trump taking over the Kennedy board is getting lost. I spoke about it in detail in this article.
No, I don’t think George Strait was picked because he’s a registered Republican, if that is in fact the case as people dig into his personal matters and try to ruin his credibility for this award. The bigger question is if George Strait deserves the award. According to the very left-leaning Daily Beast who pretty much poo pooed all the other picks, the answer was “yes.” I do think Strait gets picked this year regardless of who is President.
Debate all you want the other picks, the politicization of the honor (which I acknowledge) etc. etc. George Strait deserved this. And no, it shouldn’t be tainted moving forward.
August 15, 2025 @ 11:11 am
Country DJ…I agree 99% with your comments except for “George is a registered Republican”….is this a fact or guess??? Do you have access to the Texas voting records/registrations?? I only ask because I have never EVER heard George make political comments or say he’s voted for this or that…and I have followed his career since 1982…yes, that long!! I have also had the privilege/good luck of meeting him several times over the years….we never talked politics tho…only his music, concerts, and one time the Grand Canyon….we were in Phoenix at the time and it seemed logical. Anyway, his body of work more than deserves the KCH and he actually should have been picked before Reba and Garth but better late than never I always say!!
August 16, 2025 @ 2:16 am
It’s a well known fact that Strait donated $5 to the Salvation Army on Dec. 21, 1987, outside of the Carnegie Hall during a rare visit to New York.
Considering the Salvation Army’s stauch conservative leanings (at the time), I think we can all agree that Strait is very far right, and should face the consequences for his inhumanity.
August 16, 2025 @ 11:29 am
“”Sofus”, if you are suggesting that something is wrong with the “Salvation Army” and George Strait’s donation of $5K on 21st December 1987 to it, then you are wrong because there is nothing inherently wrong with conservative values that have withstand the test of time. Summarily, it is a way of being; a way of life that no one can dismiss without consequences. That is the truth and fact of the George and Norma’s legacy. It is sacred.
August 16, 2025 @ 10:16 am
We aren’t a democracy. We are a republic.
You screeching hyenas can’t even grasp basic facts.
No one is renaming anything after Eleanor Roosevelt.
August 17, 2025 @ 4:22 pm
We are both a democracy and a republic. They are not mutually exclusive.
August 17, 2025 @ 4:27 pm
We are both a democracy and a republic. They are not mutually exclusive. A representative democracy is still a democracy, no matter what kind of BS Fox “News” has been burning into your brain.
August 15, 2025 @ 7:35 am
The winners, in particular George Strait thoroughly deserve the honour. I do not see it as being anything to do with politics. Those that do, need to get a life!
August 15, 2025 @ 9:24 am
Even if Strait isn’t inducted, they can still induct his guitar, which has a unique status. It’s the only guitar that has been carried on stage for 8,960 performances and NEVER been strummed!
August 15, 2025 @ 9:46 am
Boy you just keep going to that well and cracking yourself up each time. Don’t you?
August 15, 2025 @ 11:15 am
bigtex…that made me laugh tho it actually isn’t true…maybe you could go to YouTube and look up hundreds of concert videos that show George PLAYING/STRUMMING his guitar….just sayin’…..
August 16, 2025 @ 2:20 am
Damn, I never really thought about that.
No way I will spend $300 on a ticket anymore!
Thank you for opening my eyes (and ears). Strait ripped us off, obviously.
August 15, 2025 @ 10:15 am
Do people think a man such as George Strait would be on good terms with folks like Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty (before he passed) and his guitarist pal Mike Campbell, and Stevie Nicks to be a supporter of MAGA? George and Willie are literally golf buddies, and George opened Bruce’s show in Austin just two years ago.
Hell, George did a full song in Spanish on his album Twang.
The people who are writing him of as something that he clearly is not based on common sense by looking at the folks that still associate with him is wild to me.
I saw a Reddit post on r/insanepeoplefacebook awhile back where people were spreading that falsehood where “he attacked Springsteen for going after Trump,” and a user by the name of u/OHMEGA, whose post history shown he lived in the Denton area outside of Dallas/Fort Worth, said that he was married to George’s niece and said they were your traditional Republicans but they were definitely not MAGA.
A LGBT writer for the Houston Chronicle just came out with a piece about this, “George Strait is a Kennedy Center Honoree. Good for him.” They said it best, “Each year, the Kennedy Center honors artists who its board has deemed to have made important contributions to American culture, and few Texans have changed American culture as much as George Strait has. So good for you, George. ”
George is still a universally appreciated artist, he’s for everyone, Republican, Democrat, or independent, and he’s probably the most deserving of the nominees this year, regardless of your politics.
August 15, 2025 @ 10:40 am
Good points.
August 16, 2025 @ 2:27 am
It could be that grown people can talk about other stuff than politics?
Alice Cooper said that “on the road, we’re all the same, from Yo-Yo Ma (classical violonist) to Meat Loaf, we share the same obstacles, the same joy in a good performance.”
August 15, 2025 @ 10:24 am
Seems like most of the controversy only comes from one side. It wasn’t long ago that the religious right were the ones that had something to say about everything & now it’s the left that not only has something to say but seem to want to destroy others who have a different political opinion.
George Strait is deserving of ANY honor bestowed upon him, it doesn’t matter where it’s coming from. Why can’t some people just agree to disagree??
August 15, 2025 @ 2:47 pm
It seems to me that savingcountrymusic.com is making this unnecessarily more political, while claiming that this honor for George shouldn’t be viewed politically…just simply as being justly deserved. You say that a president of either party would probably have nominated him, but then criticized the way Trump nominated him and is dealing with the Kennedy center? If you don’t want this to be political, why not just write that this honor is overdue, that you are glad it happened, no matter who helped make it happen. You could have left it at that. Why stir up more controversy around this by by lobbying seemingly politically motivated attacks at the current president of the United States who helped give him this honor? Seems hypocritical.
August 15, 2025 @ 3:31 pm
Hey Jason,
I understand the concern. Nobody needed me to inform them that George Strait was picked for the Kennedy Center Honors. That news was everywhere. Instead, I decided to write about how the story shouldn’t be seen through a political lens, inspired by the reams upon reams of social media posts and some articles I was seeing making it political. It’s a shame you can’t make the case of why something shouldn’t be seen as political without broaching politics, but that’s an enigma I haven’t been able to solve yet. Very consistently, Saving Country Music has strongly condemned political acrimony encroaching on the music space. That is what this article is about.
August 15, 2025 @ 3:55 pm
The very title of the article is saying that this should be about art and the politics should be set aside. Regardless of how he covered this, some people will bring the politics into this. Some of us are trying to keep the focus on the music.
August 15, 2025 @ 4:18 pm
Happy for George Strait let’s hope next time they honor Hank Williams.Jr.
August 16, 2025 @ 2:29 am
Yeah, that will happen. Maybe they will honor David Allan Coe, too.
August 15, 2025 @ 4:28 pm
I’m sure this same bullshit logic was used by the athletes who performed for Hitler. You don’t give a fascist a microphone and a camera and pretend what’s happening is not happening, no matter how much George has earned it. He earned it for decades and will still earn it years from now, when America becomes America again. Stupid article
August 15, 2025 @ 11:04 pm
Trump unnecessarily politicized this Kennedy Center process, and that’s unfortunate for everyone. But last time I checked, he hasn’t exterminated 6 million people, or started the largest conflagration in world history. But keep calling him Hitler, and anyone else you have online disagreements with for that matter. At some point, maybe that hyperbole will be effective, though it’s proven for quite a few years now not to be, in large part because it’s used to against just about everyone at this point. It’s stock.
August 16, 2025 @ 2:38 am
Maybe it will hit harder if they start to use Idi Amin’s name and legacy?
Of course, nobody knows Idi Amin these days, but they should. Man, he was a meanie.
August 16, 2025 @ 11:48 am
“Sofus” you are the mean – Grinch like – one!. Causing havoc when you think no one is paying attention. I remember the former Uganda President: Idi Amin(God rest his soul) and who died in exile for doing what the Ukrainian President is fighting for in Ukraine today, unfortunately for President Amin, he was dealing with British Imperialism and the lack of NATO transparency for developing countries. Nothing has changed l see. The same old apartheid system in full display in the latter part of the 21st century.
August 16, 2025 @ 10:17 am
You have no idea what a fascist is.
August 15, 2025 @ 6:41 pm
I knew all the baloney going on with this and mainstream media only reported Gloria, Sly, Kiss 🙄 My immediate response was akin to Clary Webb when Doo kicks Loretta out and she comes home pregnant in Coal Miner’s Daughter when I saw that Strait was one of the honorees this year. Of course he is deserving it’s just a damn shame it’s occurring under this lunacy that is way beyond typical blue versus red contention. Right now red is nonexistent for the self respecting souls of that party. I mean the “leader of the free World” just did a friendly press conference with a low level (by historical comparison) but still modern day dictator. I’d be happy if he declined and stayed above the fray but won’t knock him if he doesn’t. This is a lose/lose situation for him and it’s horrible that of all people a traditionalist Country troubadour is in this position
August 15, 2025 @ 10:41 pm
It read as if you were kicking and screaming.
August 16, 2025 @ 1:03 am
I am a major fan of George Strait always have been.. he is so deserving of this honor .. but I do wish he would decline…Trump is making a big mess of our country and for George to receive an honor like this directly from him we’ll.. it upsets me… I hope King of Country Music Says no thank you… When you truly make America Great … by giving people back there jobs not putting your name on everything taking Democracy out of our country… not trying to take over and be a dictator like your idol Putin then maybe I will accept !!!!
August 16, 2025 @ 12:02 pm
No. Bad advice. Besides neither George nor Norma are that petty. George and Norma Strait deserve the Kennedy Center Honors award and subsequent induction ceremony in December 2025 simply because they have been honored and it will be in bad taste and ungentlemanly behavior to not be there for the induction regardless of who will be handing out the awards honors. Therefore, be there to witness history in the making on CBS.
August 16, 2025 @ 11:10 am
George deserves the honor. The president shouldn’t be in the same room with him. He doesn’t deserve that.
August 16, 2025 @ 12:13 pm
I’m neither a Trump lover nor hater, but yes, Strait feels like the only pick on the list that makes undeniable sense.
“Rocky'” was a landmark film, and maybe in itself is enough to warrant an honor for Stallone, but I’m not sure if there’s much lasting cultural value in the rest of his filmography. Gloria Gaynor and KISS had some strong songs — and, perhaps not coincidentally, at a time when Trump’s beloved Village People were also riding high on the pop charts — but they don’t necessarily feel deserving of Kennedy Center Honors.
And as for Michael Crawford, he’s an English-born performer who — at least according to a Google AI search — isn’t an American citizen and currently lives in New Zealand. But he did win (and deservingly win) a Tony for playing “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway, and “Phantom” is reportedly a favorite musical of Trump’s.
August 17, 2025 @ 7:18 am
The way the left love to slur people they don’t agree with, has always been quite pathetic.
Trump divides opinion of course but calling him things like a fascist is ridiculous. He’s just a politician who said what he’d do if he won and is carrying that out. The will of the majority of voters. The opposite of fascism surely.
And either way, why should musicians who have never been political, get knocked for being awarded in this way by whoever a president is at the time?? Why can’t people just stop throwing silly slurs around and allow artists to accept a high acknowledgment of their work???
August 17, 2025 @ 4:18 pm
Hey, Dave W. – Trump won a plurality of voters, not a majority. More voters went with someone else. And if you don’t think he’s a fascist, it’s only because you don’t know the definition of the word.
August 17, 2025 @ 4:30 pm
He’s a fascist. A slur is only a slur if it isn’t true.
September 6, 2025 @ 9:58 pm
This is why they need to teach history in schools. Maybe Dave W. should read up on history, like WW2 Germany, Mousilini, Charles Taylor, Duvalier etc.
August 17, 2025 @ 1:46 pm
Liberalism is a mental disorder.
August 17, 2025 @ 2:42 pm
Two of my favorite singers of all time are Bruce Springsteen and George Strait. I don’t like Springsteen’s politics and I sure didn’t vote for President Obama, but when Obama honored Springsteen, I was happy for him. It was a richly deserved honor.
The Kennedy Center honors have always been political, but legendary artists have a way of reaching across political lines. I hope the kind of Trump-hatred on display in these comments doesn’t stop people from giving Strait the honor he deserves.
August 17, 2025 @ 4:15 pm
“Trump-hatred”= Patriotism. Call it what it is. Unless you love fascists, of course. This ain’t liberal vs. conservative. No true conservative would support Trump.
August 17, 2025 @ 4:13 pm
“Democrat” is a noun not an adjective.
August 17, 2025 @ 4:40 pm
Let’s face it, Saving Country Music loves this kind of spectacle (of perceived political divisiveness). You get to quickly cobble together an inane response and then the comments fill up with equally vapid garbage. I guess we all gotta pay the bills?
And the Daily Beast is “left-leaning!?” Sure, and Kane Brown is “country.”
August 18, 2025 @ 12:15 pm
George and Norma Strait can come out of hiding now. What they may consider the “noise” for the past 5 days about George’s nomination for the Kennedy Center Honors Award has finally stopped and they can now resume their normal lives on their ranch in Texas. Bless their hearts. I thank God daily for having them as part of my life and the memories we have shared. Thank you always and God bless you, amen.