celebrate vs pay tribute to

celebrate

verb
  • To perform or participate in, as a sacrament or solemn rite; to perform with appropriate rites. 

  • To extol or honour in a solemn manner. 

  • To honour by rites, by ceremonies of joy and respect, or by refraining from ordinary business; to observe duly. 

  • To engage in joyful activity in appreciation of an event. 

pay tribute to

How often have the words celebrate and pay tribute to occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )