Paul McCartney Wins Kennedy Center Honors and Maybe All of 2010 As Well

Though the gala was weeks ago, CBS just got around to airing the annual Kennedy Center Honors award show. Among the honorees? Bill T. Jones, Jerry Herman, Merle Haggard, Oprah Winrey, and Paul McCartney, to whom Steven Tyler can be seen paying awkward, shrill tribute to above. Which makes us wonder. Did the Beatles end up winning 2010 somehow?

Think of the non-story/huge story of their iTunes debut, the 30th anniversary of Lennon's death, McCartney playing for nearly half of Saturday Night Live, and last night's Kennedy Center feteing of the Cute One. Did either Kanye or Taylor accomplish nearly as much in 2010? Add last year's entire catalog reissue (on CD) and perhaps it's going to become an annual ritual now at the end of each year to predict how the Beatles' mythology will be repurposed and celebrated in new ways in the next. 2011 is the 50 year anniversary of the "My Bonnie" single, after all.

So in the waning hours of 2010, one last prediction: next year will feature a critical reappraisal of the Tony Sheridan period spurred by the mid-year reissue of the sessions on limited edition Apple-branded USB sticks, and of course, a Glee episode devoted to the band's speed-addled Hamburg years. Either that or some sort of iPad application. Why not, right?

Kennedy Center Honors 2010: Merle Haggard, Chita Rivera, Paul McCartney honored [WP]