Did President Obama miss a musical calling?
It was only last month that the commander-in-chief channeled Al Green at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. On Tuesday night, he shared the stage with no less than Mick Jagger, B.B. King and Jeff Beck.
The all-star musical lineup performed in the East Room of the White House, with the President joining in for an ensemble rendition of his hometown anthem “Sweet Home Chicago,” news footage from the gathering shows.
The full version of In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues will air on local PBS stations on Monday, Feb. 27, at 9 p.m. ET.
For most of the evening, the President and First Lady Michelle Obama took in the concert from the audience, swaying in their seats and occasionally getting up to dance, reports the Associated Press.
But after some prodding from Buddy Guy, who referenced Obama’s Apollo performance and told him, “You gotta keep it up,” the President took the stage – and a microphone offered by Jagger.
After singing a few bars, Obama leaned the mic toward B.B. King.
“This music speaks to something universal,” Obama said, as quoted by the AP. “No one goes through life without both joy and pain, triumph and sorrow. The blues gets all of that, sometimes with just one lyric or one note. ”
By Liz Raftery
