George Strait Absolutely Should Be a Kennedy Center Honoree, But I'm Disappointed He Accepted It

by Julian Spivey

The Kennedy Center Honors used to be something I looked forward to watching at the end of every year. Typically, there would be a musician or actor I admired and wanted to see them get the flowers they deserved for a career well done in their respective fields.
​
Hopefully, that feeling will return one day. However, I knew once President Donald Trump ran a coup on the Kennedy Center and its board of trustees, put himself in charge and recreated it in his own image that it wouldn’t be the same, the honor of being chosen wouldn’t be the same. There’s a possibility it might never be again.

This year’s Kennedy Center Honorees are rock band KISS, actor Sylvester Stallone, disco singer Gloria Gaynor, Broadway actor Michael Crawford and Country Music Hall of Famer George Strait. I don’t care about most of these people, but there is one I care a great deal about.

You can make up for your own, whether or not you think most of these honorees deserve the honor, but I won’t accept any arguments that Strait shouldn’t be a Kennedy Center Honoree.

Strait is one of the most successful artists in the history of country music when it comes to record sales, concert ticket sales, awards won, and nobody has ever recorded as many No. 1 hits as the 50-plus Strait has had in his career. Strait is a legend in his field. Arguably one of the 10 greatest country music artists of all time.

This is an honor Strait deserves, but I hate that he has accepted it this year. I hate that he accepted the honor from President Trump, especially in the year President Trump essentially dismantled the Kennedy Center and turned a body and honor that had never been politicized before into something heavily politicized. I hate that Strait accepted the honor from a man who has been so hateful to so many different kinds of people, including folks who can’t stand up for themselves.

Strait has never done anything in his career that could tarnish it. He’s never gotten political in his work. He’s never really done anything political in the public eye. Yes, he’s had a friendship with the Bush family, but it’s never seemed more than a fellow Texan respecting one another. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe musicians should “shut up and sing.” My favorite musician ever is the very politically outspoken Bruce Springsteen. But Strait seemingly has never had an interest in doing anything that might negatively impact his reputation.

Strait might feel like this honor isn’t political. As I said previously, it hasn’t been in the past. When George W. Bush was President, it didn’t feel like a gut punch for a celebrity I admired to accept this honor. But President Trump is different. Today’s world is different. And I’m disappointed in Strait for accepting the honor. And make no mistake, he could’ve turned it down had he wanted. Actor Tom Cruise reportedly did so when offered it this year.

Note, this doesn’t mean I’m canceling George Strait. It doesn’t mean I’m going to break or burn my many Strait albums. It doesn’t mean I’m going to remove his fantastic songs from my playlist. I think culture has gotten out of control with stuff like this. But I couldn’t let the weekend of the Kennedy Center Honors go by without publicly stating I’m disappointed in his decision to be a part of it. Yeah, I know he’s almost certainly never going to read this. But I feel a bit better for stating it.