The Obama Presidential Center and Library opened Thursday in Chicago, with its grand opening ceremony touting a guest list that could rival any music festival: Bruce Springsteen, U2’s Bono and the Edge, the Roots, Stevie Wonder, and more.
The Roots kicked the proceedings with a funky rendition of jazz great Donald Byrd’s “Change (Makes You Want to Hustle)” that segued into their own “You Got Me” and later transformed into a bluesy take on Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up.” The Roots then kept the party going with a cover of Kool & The Gang’s “Jungle Boogie.”
EGOT winner and Chicago native Jennifer Hudson was also on hand to deliver the national anthem as well as The Man of La Mancha’s iconic “The Impossible Dream (The Quest),” which Hudson previously performed at a 2009 NAACP tribute to Muhammad Ali.
Christina Aguilera was the next artist to take the stage, and performed a song that was one of the Obamas’ favorites, even though she had never performed it live before: Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” with Aguilera putting a new arrangement on the often-covered classic.
Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, a native of Chicago and a diehard Cubs fan, linked up with local musical non-profit Guitars Over Guns to debut a new song he wrote with the teens, “Better Believe.”
John Legend, another EGOT winner, then took the stage to cover Donny Hathaway’s “Someday We’ll All Be Free,” and reminisced about first meeting Obama when he was an Illinois senator. Chicago rapper Common then popped up onstage alongside Legend and a choir to perform their Oscar-winning hit “Glory.”
U2’s Bono and the Edge, along with producer Jackknife Lee, later performed a stripped-down rendition of “City of Blinding Lights,” the How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb song that featured prominently during Obama’s presidential campaign rallies. “We’re here representing the Irish in Chicago,” Bono quipped before the performance.
Nigerian singer Tems came out immediately after U2 to perform her “Me & U,” a track that was handpicked by Obama on one of his annual favorite music playlists. The world music showcase then continued with Marc Anthony.
This is a developing story…
