STEVIE, LEONA & LUKE SALUTE LIONEL

Stevie Wonder performed The Commodores hit “Easy,” Leona Lewis sang “Say You Say Me” and “All Night Long” and Luke Bryan covered “Penny Lover” and “Sail On” in a salute to Lionel Richie at the 40th Annual Kennedy Center Honors.

The Trump-free edition of The Kennedy Center Honors aired Tuesday on CBS. Richie received the honor along with LL Cool J, Gloria Estefan, Norman Lear and actor/dancer/ choreographer Carmen de Lavallade.

"Nobody, in my opinion, is more deserving than Lionel when you look at his whole body of work as a singer-songwriter, as a band member, as an individual artist, as what he was able to do with charitable stuff through this year," Bryan said.

"You hear about these awards for your entire lifetime," Richie told CBS This Morning: Saturday co-host Alex Wagner. "And then when it finally happens, it's almost disbelief. … It's one of those things that will make you walk in the backyard, sit down quietly, and go, how did this happen.”