Obama, stars pay a musical tribute to Ray Charles

Lovato, Howard, Day and gospel star Yolanda Adams later teamed for “Heaven Help Us All”.

It will be the 16th such program held under President Barack Obama.

The President and First Lady will honor music legend Ray Charles on Wednesday night in Washington.

Charles, known as the “Genius of Soul”, was one of the pioneers of soul music in the 1950s and 1960s. “Even as a young man, he had the rich, raw-honey tone of an old soul”.

Paying tribute to the late Ray Charles, Obama led the crowd in a sing-a-long at the last instalment of the In Performance at the White House. “He couldn’t see us, but we couldn’t take our eyes off of him”, Obama finished, before indulging in the call-and-response section of “What’d I Say” at the end of the evening.

Alabama Shakes singer Brittany Howard, Demi Lovato and The Band Perry were also among the performers, while the audience included some of Charles’ children, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Charles, known for such hits as “Georgia on My Mind” and “Hit the Road Jack”, died in June 2004. The program is scheduled to be live streamed on the White House website and broadcast by PBS stations nationwide on Friday. Obama will leave office in January after two terms. “Speaking about the final ‘In Performance” of his administration, Obama said it was “fitting” that Charles should be the focus, because he was “one of the most brilliant and influential musicians of our times”. I do not sing. But our last, it is appropriate that we pay tribute to one of our favorites.

“We’re going to have a lot of lasts coming up”, she told the Associated Press.