May 15--President Barack Obama, remembering the late blues great B.B. King, on Friday recalled being cajoled into singing "Sweet Home Chicago" with him three years ago at the White House.
King, 89, died Thursday at his home in Las Vegas.
Obama said in a statement:
"The blues has lost its king, and America has lost a legend. B.B. King was born a sharecropper's son in Mississippi, came of age in Memphis, Tennessee, and became the ambassador who brought his all-American music to his country and the world. No one worked harder than B.B. No one inspired more up-and-coming artists. No one did more to spread the gospel of the blues.
"Three years ago, Michelle and I hosted a blues concert at the White House. I hadn't expected that I'd be talked into singing a few lines of 'Sweet Home Chicago' with B.B. by the end of the night, but that was the kind of effect his music had, and still does. He gets stuck in your head, he gets you moving, he gets you doing the things you probably shouldn't do -- but will always be glad you did."
That East Wing concert in February 2012 drew King, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger and other musical giants. "Sweet Home Chicago" was the final song of the rollicking night.
Jagger handed Obama the microphone, Guy prodded the president to join in the singing and he did. Obama then handed King the mic momentarily, retrieving it to belt out the words "Sweet Home Chicago" as the concert closed.
Obama concluded his Friday statement by predicting "killer blues" in heaven.
"B.B. may be gone, but that thrill will be with us forever," he said. "And there's going to be one killer blues session in heaven tonight.
kskiba@tribpub.com
