Honors. We will only include performances that
are archived somewhere on the Kennedy Center website. The links are below in
the description. The Kennedy Center Honors have been compared to a
knighthood in Britain. It's an annual celebration recognizing the lifelong
accomplishments and extraordinary talents of the world's most prestigious
artists. At each gala event, the celebrated artists received tribute with
performances by the great stars of today who have followed in their footsteps. The
list of guest performers is kept secret until they hit the stage. This has made
for some truly extraordinary moments. Number 10 on our list Jennifer Hudson
paying tribute to Oprah Winfrey with the performance of "I'm here."
Talk-show Queen Oprah Winfrey was saluted in 2010 for her contributions to
US arts and culture Hudson performed the show-stopping number from Oprah's
Broadway production of "The Color Purple."
number nine idina menzel and her powerful performance of don't rain on my
parade for 2008 honoree Barbra Streisand Menzel soared to stage fame as Maureen
in the musical Rent she earned a Tony nomination for that role she was the
perfect choice to salute the Broadway star with the iconic song number 8 Billy
Joel performing Benny and the Jets and a medley of other Elton John hits for the
2004 honoree it was a natural combination for the
tribute beginning in 1994 Elton John performs extensively with Billy Joel on
a series of tours it became one of the longest-running and most successful
concert tandem in pop music history number seven Alicia Keys performing
bridge over troubled waters for the 2002 tribute to Paul Simon what often makes
these performances special is hearing a new generation of artists taking a
unique spin on a familiar classic number six Kelly Clarkson singing the
captivating hit fancy and celebration of Reba McEntire in 2018 the story of the
poor girl who's forced to make ends meet captivated audiences and still remains
one of Reba's most famous pieces of work number five Broadway star Audra McDonald
performed somewhere from West Side Story to honor Michael Tilson Thomas during
the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors McDonald is an accomplished performer she won
three Tony Awards in five years all while she was still in her twenties
number four in a stunning yet elegant performance Beyonce sang the way we were
in a 2008 tribute to Barbra Streisand it was one of Beyonce's greatest
performances and the list is long the division is wide between the genres of
music each represent yet the artist displayed her versatility and sang with
much heart number three during the 2018 program Cyndi Lauper
surprised share with the performance of if I could turn back time Cyndi danced
and twirled her way across the stage while cher watched from her box above
these are two legends and longtime friends number two dramatic soprano
Jesse Norman singing Amazing Grace few songs are as special as Amazing Grace
and even fewer singers can do with justice norman delivered a powerful
performance as a tribute to actor and film director Sidney Poitier in 1995 she
received a standing ovation you're going to want to see every second of this one
and finally our number one tick Beyonce performing proud marry in 2005 she did
it in celebration of the legend Tina Turner
she started her said thanking the two Tina's in her life for providing her
with inspiration first her mother and second Tina Turner herself who
epitomizes strength and fortitude the performance was electrifying I hope you
have enjoyed our picks for the top live performances from the Kennedy Center
Honors if you want to add to the list include them in the comments section
below and please don't forget to like the video then go and spend time on the
Kennedy Center website Washington DC is fortunate to have the premiere artistic
performance center right here in our backyard
you