Billy Joel, Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, Shirley MacLaine Get Kennedy Center Honors

FOUR — yes, four— musicians are getting Kennedy Center Honors. Billy Joel, Carlos Santana, and Herbie Hancock will receive the awards. Also on the list are Oscar winner Shirley MacLaine and opera great Martina Arroyo. It’s a very unusual list in that there are three people from the world of pop music and one from opera. Missing still are Hollywood greats like Jerry Lewis, Doris Day, and a number of veterans. No film director, like Woody Allen, is included. Also, there was a lot of pressure to include stars from the Latino community. Santana and Arroyo are certainly overdue. The Kennedy Center Honors tapes two weeks later than usual this year, on December 7th-8th, and airs on December 29th, a night when absolutely no one will be home.