The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has selected the 47th Honorees for lifetime artistic achievements and legendary American rock band the Grateful Dead will be honored this December.

 

“The Grateful Dead has always been about community, creativity, and exploration in music and presentation. We've always felt that the music we make embodies and imparts something beyond the notes and phrases being played -and that is something we are privileged to share with all who are drawn to what we do—so it also must be said that our music belongs as much to our fans, the Dead Heads, as it does to us.
This honor, then, is as much theirs as ours."

 

–Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Bobby Weir of the Grateful Dead