The Who honoured by The Kennedy Centre

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, the legendary rock act The Who, will make history this week by being the first ever band to be honoured by The Kennedy Centre.

The Kennedy Center Honors, which take place in Washington on December 7th, are an annual event to recognise outstanding achievement of artists in the performing arts.

The Honors recognise a lifetime of contributions to American culture through the performing arts, whether in dance, music, theatre, opera, motion pictures or television and are hosted by John F. Kennedy's daughter, Caroline Kennedy.

This list of previous honourees reads like a who's who of culture in the 20th and 21st century including the likes of Tennessee Williams, Leonard Bernstein, James Cagney, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, Arthur Miller, Ray Charles, Bette Davis, Sammy Davis Jr, Stephen Sondheim, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Chuck Berry, Plácido Domingo, Clint Eastwood Quincy Jones, Jack Nicholson, Luciano Pavarotti, James Brown, Warren Beatty, Elton John, John Williams, Tony Bennett, Robert Redford, Dolly Parton, Smokey Robinson, Steven Spielberg, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Martin Scorsese.

Incredibly, only one British musician has ever had the honour bestowed on them, Elton John in 2004 making the honour extra special.

On hearing the news Pete Townshend commented, "This is a great thrill. Since the Who began in the early '60s we have loved American music and audiences and have made deep and lasting friendships with everyone involved in the industry there. Roger and I both feel our work in the United States has been as important as our work at home. Because our medium, rock music, is quintessentially American music with broad and deep international and multicultural roots, this honour is especially meaningful to us Brits".

Roger Daltrey was equally as honoured to be chosen; "As a teenager growing up in the austerity of post war England, it was the music I heard emanating from America that gave me a dream to hang my life on. That dream was to make music and make it there. I am deeply touched at receiving this honour, the warmth and affection I feel from our US audience is humbling indeed. To be added to the list of past recipients of this award makes that dream come true".

The Who are currently preparing for a short tour of the United States and Japan commencing October 21st, the full dates follow below.

THE WHO US/JAPAN 2008:

Oct. 21 Palace of Auburn Hills Detroit, MI
Oct. 22 Copps Coliseum Hamilton Ontario
Oct. 24 TD Banknorth Garden Boston, MA
Oct. 26 Wachovia Center Philadelphia PA
Oct. 28 Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville CT
Oct. 29 Izod Center East Rutherford NJ
Oct. 31 The Borgata Atlantic City NJ
Nov. 03 Verizon Center Washington DC
Nov. 8 Nokia Theatre Los Angeles, CA
Nov. 9 Nokia Theatre Los Angeles CA
Nov. 13 Osaka Castle Hall Osaka Japan
Nov. 14 Yokohama Arena Yokohama Japan
Nov. 16 Saitama Super Arena Saitama Japan
Nov. 17 Budokan Tokyo Japan

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