Stevie Wonder, left, and President Barack during the "Stevie Wonder in Performance at the White House: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize" event in the East Room of the White House last night. (Photo by Ron Sachs / pool via Bloomberg News )
by Mark Silva
Will Wonder never cease?
"Love was in the air at the White House,'' the faithful pool reporter reports from last night's appearance of Stevie Wonder in performance in the East Room of the White House. And here are some notes to prove it:
First Lady Michelle Obama, explaining that she had grown up listening to Stevie Wonder's music with her grandfather, told the audience that, years later, she "discovered what Stevie meant when he sang about love. Barack and I chose the song, 'You and I' as our wedding song."
And the fellow who started out as Little Stevie Wonder on the Motown circuit still is "thrilling a new generation of young girls, including our own,'' the first lady said.
President Barack Obama, presenting the virtuoso musician and singer with the Gershwin award, called Stevie Wonder's music "the soundtrack of my youth," saying that he had found in it "peace and inspiration, especially in difficult times."
"I think it's fair to say that had I not been a Stevie Wonder fan, Michelle might not have dated me,'' the president said. "We might not have married. The fact that we agreed on Stevie was part of the essence of our courtship."
(Photos by Ron Sachs / Bloomberg)
"President and Mrs. Obama, I'm so excited to know that I was a part of.....'' the star said, pausing for laughter from the audience. "I needn't say more."
The performer accepted the award for his mother. If she were here, he said, "She'd say, 'Let me give him a peach cobbler.'"
This was the 2nd annual Gershwin Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Library of Congress. The concert will be broadcast tonight on PBS as part of its "In Performance at the White House" series, according to a White House release.
Spotted in the audience: Republican Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who helped the president get his economic stimulus through the Senate, Donna Brazille, who helped Al Gore get a 2000 presidential nominatiion, Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod, who helped Obama get elected president, and Attorney General Eric Holder, who says this nation is ready for a talk about race.
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The star of the show suggested, for the new president, a task nothing short of uniting the world, "so that in my lifetime I can write some more songs about love, about unity, and real songs of passion."
Then, Stevie Wonder struck up the tune that the Obama campaign had played at rallies and which Wonder himself sang on the football field in Denver where Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president in front of 80,000 people:
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered.''
(with thanks to the fine pool reporting of Mike Memoli, Real Cear Politics)
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