Kennedy Center Honorees Include Divas of Hip-Hop, Pop and Opera

Queen Latifah was in her dressing room on the set of the TV drama “The Equalizer” in Brooklyn when she heard the news: she had been chosen as a Kennedy Center honoree.

“I was just in shock for a second,” she said in an interview. “I just sat there and looked out the window at New York City and thought ‘Wow, can you believe this?’”

Billy Crystal was also caught off guard when he got the call. “When they said, ‘Hold on we want to talk to you,’ I said, ‘Oh, am I being audited?’ ” he recalled.

They will receive the 46th Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievement on Dec. 3 with Grammy-winning singer Dionne Warwick, the soprano Renée Fleming and the pop singer and songwriter Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees.

Queen Latifah, who is only the second hip-hop artist to be named an honoree (LL Cool J was honored in 2017), called the accolade an overdue celebration of hip-hop’s contribution to the arts in America. This year’s gala — which typically draws the President and other leading officials — coincides with hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.

“It will allow us a moment to be part of the fabric of America, which is really what we are,” she said. “It will be one night where the people who are in the highest offices in the most powerful nation in the world will honor hip-hop music and one of its daughters.”