Classic rock legend Bob Seger led a hand-picked cast of performers in singing the Eagles‘ “Life in the Fast Lane,” at the 2016 Kennedy Center Honors, broadcast last night (Dec. 27) on CBS. The Detroit rocker took his turn on lead vocal as did country star Vince Gill, and others.
The award, considered one of the highest compliments an artist can receive in the U.S., was especially bittersweet for the Eagles, as the group was initially chosen to receive theirs in 2015. At that time founding member Glenn Frey was ill so the band opted not to delay it to 2016. Frey died on Jan. 18.
Seger also sang the band’s “Heartache Tonight.” Seger and Frey were longtime friends, sharing Detroit roots.
“Glenn and I met when I was 20 and he was 17,” Seger said on the red carpet prior to the event. “So I knew him 49 years.”
Besides the Eagles, the recipients honored at the event were: singer-songwriter James Taylor, actor Al Pacino, gospel and blues singer Mavis Staples, and Argentine pianist Martha Argerich.
Watch a clip of Seger performing “Heartache Tonight”…
Among the Center’s 200 recipients since they were started in 1978 are such rock and pop music legends as Led Zeppelin, Sting, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, and many more. For years, it was strictly a highbrow affair with Honorees like Fred Astaire, Leonard Bernstein, and so on. It wasn’t until 1994 when a more contemporary music icon, Aretha Franklin, was first selected. Since then, the committee has chosen performers from the classic rock era virtually every year.
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