Cummings Makes Historic White House Music Scene
Senators and congressmen, including Baltimore Rep. Elijah Cummings, were among 225 people who heeded the call for last night's White House concert honoring the music of the civil rights movement.
The East Room event, livestreamed on a snowy night by the White House and soon to be broadcast by PBS, featured what has been described as the most stirring concert of President Barack Obama's administration.
Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Smokey Robinson, Natalie Cole, John Mellencamp, Yolanda Adams and Jennifer Hudson were among the performers. The show concluded with the nation's first African-American president taking the stage to join most of the singers for "Lift Every Voice and Sing," aka the Black National Anthem.
Dylan's performance was the first of his long career at the White House. An audio version is available here.
According to the White House, the concert will be televised Thursday, February 11, at 8:00 p.m. ET on public broadcasting stations nationwide as part of WETA Washington, D.C.’s “In Performance at the White House” series. NPR will also produce a one-hour concert special from this event for broadcast nationwide on NPR Member stations throughout the month of February, beginning February 12th.







