http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/us/03kennedy.html?ref=us&pagewanted=printDecember 3, 2007
Gala for a Beach Boy and a Motown Diva
By SUEVON LEE
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 — Diana Ross emerged from the housing projects of Detroit to become a globally recognized pop music sensation with an all-female Motown group and, later, a solo artist with 70 hit singles. Brian Wilson was the lead songwriter and co-founder of a Southern California band famed for its catchy surfer anthems.
Though Ms. Ross and Mr. Wilson traveled wholly separate paths, they became two of the most enduring musical personalities of the 20th century, and on Sunday were among five performing artists to receive lifetime achievement awards at the 30th annual Kennedy Center Honors.
The filmmaker Martin Scorsese, the pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher, and the actor and writer Steve Martin were also honored.
“There is a wonderful selection this year,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday evening at a dinner honoring the recipients. “It honors people who have truly enriched our lives in so many ways.”
The honorees met with President Bush at a White House reception on Sunday before the gala, which will be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 26.
In a videotaped speech shown to the audience, President Bush praised the five honorees.
“In the careers of these five Americans we see the very definition of excellence and passion,” he said. “They’ve given us music and laughter and distinctive moments in film.”
The Kennedy Center Honors, an annual two-day event, attracts Hollywood celebrities and prominent Washington figures. Among the 240 guests at the State Department dinner, whose M.C. was the actress Christine Baranski, were the singer Aretha Franklin, the actors Terrence Howard and Martin Short, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Ms. Ross, 63, first won fame as a member of the Supremes, who produced 10 No. 1 hits, including “Where Did Our Love Go?” and “Stop! In the Name of Love” from 1964 to 1967. She later earned multiple solo Grammy nominations. Ms. Ross also won a Tony Award, for her 1997 music show, “An Evening with Diana Ross.” She won a Golden Globe Award as well, and was nominated for an Oscar for her role as the singer Billie Holiday in the 1972 film “Lady Sings the Blues.”
Mr. Wilson, 65, co-founded the Beach Boys in 1961 — when he was 19 — with his two younger brothers, a cousin and a friend.
As the main songwriter and producer, Mr. Wilson captured the vibrancy of California youth with hits like “Good Vibrations,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “I Get Around.” The Beach Boys’ 1966 album, “Pet Sounds,” is regarded as one of the most inventive and influential American rock albums.
Mr. Scorsese, 65, was recognized for work inspired by his life growing up in New York City, including such films as “Mean Streets” (1973), “Taxi Driver” (1976), “Raging Bull” (1980), and “Goodfellas” (1990). He is known for his versatility, too, in movies like “The Age of Innocence” (1993) and “Kundun” (1997). He won an Academy Award for best director this year for “The Departed.”
Mr. Martin, 62, is a comedian who appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and as a regular guest on “The Tonight Show” before becoming a familiar face in movies, including “The Jerk” (1979), “Roxanne” (1987), and “Little Shop of Horrors” (1986).
He has also won accolades as a writer. His 2000 novella “Shopgirl” was later turned into a movie, and his 1993 play, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” had its premiere at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago.
Mr. Fleisher, a pianist and conductor, brought his five children and two grandchildren to Saturday’s festivities. “I’m so proud to have my whole tribe here,” he said.
Mr. Fleisher, 79, recorded widely heralded one-hand interpretations of works by the composers Maurice Ravel and Benjamin Britten, after a neurological disease impaired his right hand.
He has since regained use of the hand and is on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore.
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