Led Zeppelin, Buddy Guy, David Letterman to Receive Kennedy Center Awards

Buddy Guy, David Letterman and Robert Plant of Led ZeppelinDonna Ward/Getty Images; Ray Tamarra/FilmMagic; Heidi Gutman/NBC NewsWire

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has announced the seven recipients of the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors. Buddy Guy, Led Zeppelin, David Letterman, Dustin Hoffman and ballerina Natalia Makarova will be honored by the Kennedy Center. Though Led Zeppelin will receive honors as a band, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant will each receive Kennedy Center Honors.

"Buddy Guy is a titan of the blues and has been a tremendous influence on virtually everyone who has picked up an electric guitar in the last half century," said Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein in a press release. "David Letterman is one of the most influential personalities in the history of television, entertaining an entire generation of late-night viewers with his unconventional wit and charm . . . and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant transformed the sound of rock & roll with their lyricism and innovative song structures, infusing blues into the sound of rock & roll and laying the foundation for countless rock bands."

The Kennedy Center Honors will be presented on December 1st, with the Honors Gala on December 2nd. The gala will air December 26th on CBS.

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