Pop music would not be the same without Carole King, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, and Neil Diamond. As they began their careers, these young, music-crazy artists propelled the songs and us with them. And at their peak, each was recognized by the Kennedy Center Honors.
Their music defined the summer of a generation’s youth, and now the whole world still sings their songs. Sweet Caroline, Piano Man, You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman, and What’s Love Got to Do with It were just the beginning. This extraordinary quartet of artists both reflected their times and changed them. And we loved them for it.
Join Sara Lukinson, filmmaker and writer for the Kennedy Center Honors for 38 years, to talk about the lives of these performing arts legends, enjoy clips of their performances, and explore what made them so moving, memorable, and exciting. Lukinson, a multiple Emmy Award winner, created more than 200 short biographical films for the Kennedy Center Honors. She teaches at NYU and the 92nd Street Y.
Please Note: Individual sessions are available for individual purchase.
NOV 10 Carole King and Tina Turner
Sometimes as angels, sometimes as fiery spirits, they expressed what we felt and took the stage like they meant it. King is one of the most prolific songwriters in pop music, from girl group anthems to her tender You’ve Got a Friend. Turner is a force of nature who first strode on as Proud Mary and became Simply the Best.
NOV 17 Billy Joel and Neil Diamond
With classics like New York State of Mind and I’m a Believer, it’s hard to name a song of theirs we don’t know by heart. These singer-songwriters, creative force fields of popular song, connected so completely with their audiences and defied all the predictions to become enduring, outsized stars. They’re artists who went their own way, writing melodic and meaningful songs delivered with punch and pizazz.
2 sessions
Photo caption (upper right): Left: Carole King, 2000 (Photo: Linda D. Kozaryn); Right: Neil Diamond, 1976 (Photo: Jessie Eastland)
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