Hoffman, Letterman and Led Zeppelin among Kennedy Centre honourees

Also named as honorees for the prestigious lifetime achievement awards were blues guitarist Buddy Guy and ballerina Natalia Makarova. The winners will be presented with their medals at a dinner at the State Department on December 1, and feted the next day with a reception at the White House and a gala at the Kennedy Centre.
"With their extraordinary talent, creativity and tenacity, the seven 2012 Kennedy Centre Honorees have contributed significantly to the cultural life of our nation and the world," Kennedy Centre Chairman David M Rubenstein said in a statement.
The statement praised David Letterman as "one of the most influential personalities in the history of television" and noted his "unconventional wit and charm." It said Natalia Makarova's artistry "has ignited the stages of the world's greatest ballet companies."
 Rubenstein said the band Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant "transformed the sound of rock and roll with their lyricism and innovative song structures, infusing blues into the sound of rock and roll and laying the foundation for countless rock bands."
Rubenstein also paid tribute to Buddy Guy as a "titan of the blues" and an influence on "virtually everyone who has picked up an electric guitar in the last half century." Meanwhile, acting legend Hoffman's "unyielding commitment" has made him "one of the most versatile and iconoclastic actors of this or any other generation," Rubenstein added.//DPA