DANNY CLINCH
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN.
Bruce Springsteen will be one of 21 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which will be presented at a Nov. 22 White House ceremony that will stream live at whitehouse.gov/live.
The award was established in 1963, and this year’s class will bring the number of honorees close to 600.
The other 2016 recipients are athletes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan; Native American community leader and advocate Elouise Cobell; comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres; actors Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford and Cicely Tyson; physicist Richard Garwin; Bill and Melinda Gates (who are being honored for their philanthropy); architect Frank Gehry; software designers Margaret H. Hamilton and Grace Hopper; artist and designer Maya Lin; TV producer Lorne Michaels; attorney Newt Minow; college president Eduardo Padrón; singer Diana Ross; and sportscaster Vin Scully.
According to a press release, the award is the country’s highest civilian honor, and is presented “to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
President Obama said in the press release that the 21 recipients “have helped push America forward, inspiring millions of people around the world along the way.”
The award as previously been given to 38 musicians, songwriters, composers and conductors, including Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, B.B. King, Stevie Wonder, Irving Berlin, Stephen Sondheim, Beverly Sills and Arthur Fiedler.
