subject: Paul Mccartney Tickets - Paul Mccartney's White House Performance To Appear In Pbs Series [print this page] Although only a select group of audience members-including President Barack Obama and the first family-were able to see Paul McCartney accept the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress in a June ceremony, PBS brought the concert to a lot more Beatles fans on July 28. The event, held in the East Room of the White House, featured artists like Stevie Wonder, the Jonas Brothers, Elvis Costello, Jack White and others performing Beatles classics and comedian Jerry Seinfeld saying simply "duh" when describing why McCartney was picked for the Gershwin Prize, reports ABC News.
The concert honoring the 68-year-old former Beatle aired on PBS as part of the network's In Performance at the White House series and featured McCartney singing "Michelle" to First Lady Michelle Obama and duetting with Stevie Wonder on "Ebony and Ivory"-for the very first time! McCartney recently took time out from his current Up and Coming Tour to reminisce about the White House concert, which he previously called "a little club gig," with ABC News.
It should come as no surprise that Paul McCartney is a supporter of President Obama (he did catch some serious flack for making a joke at the expense of former President George W. Bush at the June ceremony, after all), and he told ABC News that the concert was his first visit to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. "I'm a fan of the president. I believe that he's been dealt a bad hand. He came into that job with a lot of difficulties on his plate that weren't of his creation. So I was eager to meet him, being a fan of him and his wife. I had never actually been to the White House, so that was great," McCartney reflected to ABC News.
At one point during the concert, McCartney performed iconic Beatles' track "Hey Jude" and the stage was flooded by all of the stars on hand for the event-including the Obamas! Sir Paul described the night as "almost like a family gathering" to ABC News, joking that he was worried that the President would punch him out after he serenaded First Lady Michelle Obama with "Michelle." For the former Beatle, though, performing "Ebony and Ivory" for the first black president was a highlight of the gig.
Speaking about the significance of the song McCartney said, "Sometimes you write a song in a certain era and it's got a certain kind of significance. I don't think I would have imagined then that it would be quite so soon that America would elect a black president. It wasn't that soon, but it was a relatively short period of time. To sing it with Stevie in front of President Obama was very emotional. The lyrics to the song suddenly seemed to have more significance to me in that setting."
Proving why he is the music icon that he is, Paul McCartney is currently on tour performing Beatles songs, Wings tracks and solo hits around the country. Fans with Paul McCartney tickets can sing along to songs like "The Long and Winding Road," "Blackbird," "Let It Be," "Live and Let Die," "Lady Madonna," "Drive My Car," "Yesterday," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and more in cities like Toronto, ON; Montreal, QB; Philadelphia, Pa. and Pittsburgh, Pa. this August.
