Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones sit perched above a crowd.
Below them, Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson belt out a cover of the UK rock band's hit Stairway to Heaven, backed by a gospel choir.
Take then-president Barack Obama at Aretha Franklin's 2015 performance.
For more than 55 years, the Kennedy Center beckoned the best of culture to its marble home on Washington DC's Potomac River.
While becoming the namesake of 35th US President, John F Kennedy Jr, the centre's creation began with Dwight D Eisenhower, who kickstarted plans for an "artistic mecca" in Washington DC in 1958.
Still, Kennedy would assume the bulk of the project, arguing the US had a "special responsibility to the arts" at the height of cold-war tensions.
West Side Story composer Leonard Bernstein penned a requiem mass for its 1971 opening night.
The New York Times reported a new era for the arts was upon DC.
Since 1978, artists have been recognised for their lifetime contributions to the arts with Kennedy Center celebrations.
Stars from Hollywood legend Fred Astaire to the rock band Grateful Dead have all made its honour ranks.
During Donald Trump's first term, several also backed out of meeting with the president, including TV producer Norman Lear, who said he would skip a White House reception.
As Mr Trump's second term began, the Kennedy Center was in his sights.
By December, the president's hand-picked board voted to rename the centre, The Donald J. Trump and The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.