The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington announced this year's honorees will include George Clooney and Gladys Knight.

In addition to Clooney and Knight, Sunday night's Honors gala will fete singer-songwriter Amy Grant, composer and educator Tania Leon and the Irish rock band U2 made up of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. 

The annual Kennedy Center Honors awards have been held over the course of 44 years. The gala event honoring the recipients is seen as a cultural and society highlight in Washington and was often attended by American presidents in years past.

The honorees will sit through performances and tributes from leading performers.

Awards recognize ‘the very best' of American creative culture

Kennedy Center president Deborah F. Rutter highlighted the importance of the awards.

"For nearly a half-century, the Kennedy Center Honors has represented the very best of America's creative culture,” Rutter said.

"The Honors is often referred to by past recipients as the pinnacle of awards because it recognizes not just one performance, album, or film, but esteems an artist's cumulative body of work and influence over many decades,” Rutter added.

Honorees ‘humbled' and ‘honored'

The honorees expressed their delight at receiving recognition at this level.

"To be mentioned in the same breath with the rest of these incredible artists is an honor,” Clooney said in a statement.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine ever receiving this prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. Through the years, I've watched so many of my heroes serenaded by colleagues and fellow artists,” said Amy Grant.

Gladys Knight said she was "humbled beyond words to be included amongst this prestigious group of individuals, both past and present.”

"You could never have told me as a young girl starting my career that I would be honored on a stage such as this, with artists and humanitarians such as these,” Knight said.

Tania Leon said she couldn't have imagined getting an award like this while studying in Cuba. "I am incredibly humbled to join such a prestigious family of artists, and deeply grateful to the Kennedy Center for bestowing me with this incredible honor.”

While U2 spoke of their first trip across the US in 1980 with the belief that "America smiles on Ireland.”

"We consider America to be a home away from home and we are very grateful to the Kennedy Center Honors for welcoming us into this great clan of extraordinary artists,” the band said.

AP material contributed to this report.

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