Garth Brooks to Receive Kennedy Center Honors in 2021 Garth Brooks is among the slate of artists who have been chosen to receive the Kennedy Center Honors in 2021. The Kennedy Center announced Brooks as one of the recipients of the 43rd Kennedy Center Honors on Wednesday (Jan. 13). He'll be honored in a ceremony that's been delayed until May alongside a slate of fellow honorees from across the spectrum of the arts, including artist, choreographer, and actress Debbie Allen, singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez, violinist Midori and actor Dick Van Dyke. “The Kennedy Center Honors serves as a moment to celebrate the remarkable artists who have spent their lives elevating the cultural history of our nation and world,” Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein says in announcing the new honorees, adding that Brooks has "heightened country music’s profile like no other singer before him."