President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden stand for the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ at the 2021 Kennedy Center Honors. (Left)

Each year, the Kennedy Center celebrates artistic excellence by honoring a handful of artists and entertainment icons with a yearly lifetime achievement award. For 2021, honorees included Bette Midler, Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, folk music icon Joni Mitchell, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, and opera singer Justino Díaz. The ceremony marked the return of the president, after former President Donald Trump didn’t attend the ceremony for his term in office.

Plenty of stars gathered to pay tribute to the honorees. David Letterman hosted the whole show, while others came to celebrate the icons. Some of the people who helped celebrate included Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Goldie Hawn, Billy Porter, Michael Che, and many more. Before the ceremony, Biden celebrated the honorees at the White House.

Scroll through our gallery to check out photos from the ceremony!