Legendary singer Barbra Streisand and The Who frontmen Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey were among the prestigious recipients of the 2008 Kennedy Centre Honours, media reports announced on Tuesday.

Also on the list were country singer George Jones, choreographer Twyla Tharp and actor Morgan Freeman.

"Morgan Freeman's name is synonymous with great screen acting, and (he) is one of the most respected performers in American cinema," Kennedy Centre Chairman Stephen Schwarzman said in announcing the awards.

"Barbra Streisand's trailblazing career in music, theatre, films and television is one of the most thrilling spectacles of our culture."

Schwarzman praised Townshend and Daltrey as "the heart and soul" of The Who, a band that "transformed the sights and sounds of rock and roll," while calling Jones "a vital force in American life" and Tharp "an American original ... who has indelibly enriched the vocabulary of modern dance, contemporary ballet and the Broadway musical."

The awards ceremony will be presided over by President George W Bush and First Lady Laura Bush and will conclude with a gala dinner hosted by Condoleezza Rice. The 31st annual honours will be bestowed on December 6 at the John F Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington.

The Kennedy Centre honourees are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts - whether in dance, music, theatre, opera, motion pictures or television - and are selected by the centre's board of trustees.