“That scene came really naturally to me and I really have Billy to thank for that,” Ryan said, referring to her delicatessen moaning that leads to one of the most satisfying one-liners in cinema history. Ryan was certainly not shy about expressing her affection for Crystal. Mortality is why places like the Kennedy Center hand them out every year: to let gifted people know how much we appreciate them while they’re still on earth to hear it. Lifetime achievement awards, by design, bring up feelings of mortality. “She is proud of you because you have mirrored her.”Įven during the When Harry Met Sally … portion of Crystal’s celebration, which brought director Rob Reiner, co-star Meg Ryan, and composer Marc Shaiman onto a set designed to replicate Katz’s Deli, where Sally famously fakes an orgasm, one was reminded that so many of the key players in that quintessential rom-com - Nora Ephron, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby - are no longer with us. “We know that your mother has gained her wings, but her spirit is in this room,” Elliott said. During previously recorded interviews with family members of Queen Latifah as well as Elliott’s speech, the memory of the hip-hop pioneer’s mother, Rita Owens, who died in 2018, was extremely present too. When Clive Davis spoke about Warwick’s accomplishments and Chlöe, dressed in a voluminous pink gown that made her look like Cinderella, performed “Walk on By,” one of Warwick’s earlier hits, it was impossible not to be reminded of the singer’s partnership with songwriter Burt Bacharach, who died earlier this year. “Sadly, with the loss of his brothers, my uncles, we realized that life would never be the same,” said Stephen Gibb, a musician and Barry Gibb’s son, who feted the pop titan along with Michael Bublé, country band Little Big Town, Ben Platt, and in a splashy Saturday Night Fever medley that closed out the night, Ariana DeBose and Chloe Flower. The Gibb salute, naturally, involved the two other Bee Gees: Barry’s brothers, the late Maurice and Robin. That slightly melancholy thread ran through several of the presentations. Jill Biden, appeared to be holding back tears. Crystal, sitting in a box up in the balcony of the Kennedy Center Opera House alongside his fellow honorees, as well as President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. “I want to acknowledge that the person who also should be standing here with me is our brother Robin,” she said, gesturing to the empty space beside her. Goldberg expressed similar sentiments during her onstage tribute to Crystal. “I’m missing my friend Robin tonight very much because of all that we did together,” Crystal said on the red carpet Sunday night, referring to the late Robin Williams, who, along with Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg, hosted the annual Comic Relief fundraiser to raise money for the unhoused and people living in poverty. ![]() The three-hour-plus ceremony, a celebration that will be edited down to a two-hour special and broadcast December 27 on CBS, also conjured the spirits of people who could not be present to witness this milestone. Fleming, a singer whose operatic range spans multiple octaves and genres. Gibb, a Bee Gee and a songwriter responsible for some of the most beloved pop songs of all time - “Islands in the Stream,” by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers “Heartbreaker,” by Warwick “I Just Want to Be Your Everything,” by his brother Andy. Crystal, a consummate New Yorker who has conquered every platform imaginable - movie screens, the Broadway stage, television, and for a brief moment in 2008, the baseball diamond. Warwick, legendary recording artist and Twitter royalty. Queen Latifah, a gifted actor and the first female hip-hop artist to become a Kennedy Center Honoree. This year’s Kennedy Center Honorees - the 46th class: Queen Latifah, Dionne Warwick, Billy Crystal, Barry Gibb, and Renée Fleming -are a collection of legendary muthas in their own right. I know y’all like, “What? With an A?” Yes. She is the queen, but she is a mutha with an A. “She can’t be boxed in because there are too many levels to what she do, she’s taking the lid off of it - let it marinade. “I won’t set the bar, I am the bar - let it marinade,” said Elliott, dressed in a matching black bucket hat and suit with so much sparkle that, under the stage lights, she looked like a constellation. Recalling the first time she saw the “Ladies First” music video on MTV, the recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee praised Queen Latifah and explained the meaning behind that regal title at the front of her name. ![]() When Missy Elliott saluted Queen Latifah a t this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, she broke it down the way only a fellow hip-hop queen could. Photo: Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
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