Jagger, B.B. King, belt out the blues for Barack Obama

[bigtree]

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON —

Legends and up-and-comers turned the East Room into an intimate blues club for a concert celebrating the rich history of the music and its lasting impact on American music . . .

"This music speaks to something universal," Obama declared. "The blues reminds us that we've been through tougher times before."

"Their music teaches us that when we find ourselves at a crossroads, we don't shy away from our problems, we own them, we face up to them, we deal with them, we sing about them," he said. "We turn them into art."

King, 86, arrived in a wheelchair but rose tall to kick off the night with a rollicking rendition of "Let the Good Times Roll," quickly joined by other members of the ensemble. And he followed with "The Thrill is Gone."

From there, Obama and his wife, Michelle, were swaying in their seats and singing along to an all-hits playlist including "St. James Infirmary" and "Let Me Love You."


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(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

[jillan]

1. Awesome!

[BumRushDaShow]

2. My Dad loved BB King

Still have at least one of my Dad's albums - may have been one of the live ones. I think he had even taped (reel-to-reel) one of his gigs back in the 50s but the tape is long gone...

[bigtree]

5. mom was a huge fan

. . . early B.B. had a blues voice that was smooth and had a wide, melodic range. She loved all of him.

[dsc]

3. Great to see that BB King is still going strong

He has to be in his early 90's.

[lonestarnot]

4. You left out, and Lucille.

[politicasista]

6. Nice pic of him and B.B.

Didn't expect to go (too young , but saw him live was a kid with Stevie Ray Vaughan.

That was the start of seeing legends like Stevie Wonder, the late icons Luther Vandross, and Whitney Houston. They were all great.