Last month the White House hosted the musical tribute “BET Presents Love & Happiness: An Obama Celebration.” The event was televised on Tuesday, November 15 on BET and served as a love letter to President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
The celebration, which Dave Chappelle referenced in his “SNL” monologue and joked about Bradley Cooper being the only “white guy,” included performances from Jill Scott, Janelle Monaé, Common, Usher, Bell Biv DeVoe, The Roots, De La Soul, Yolanda Adams, Michelle Williams, Kierra Sheard, and “Hamilton” star Leslie Odom, Jr.
Obama began the night by saying some words on how special the event was, “It’s with a little bit of bitter-sweetness that this is our final musical evening as president and First Lady.”
He then explained the history of holding live performances at the White House and described how Chester A. Arthur opened the doors to the all-black Fisk Jubilee Singers, Theodore Roosevelt had Scott Joplin and how the Kennedys did the twist.
“[That] may not sound like a big deal to you, but that was sort of the twerking of their time,” Obama joked. “There will also be no twerking tonight — at least not by me. I don’t know about Usher.”
Other concert highlights included Common singing “The Light,” as well as his Academy Award-winning song “Glory.”
Watch tonight as @BET presents "Love and Happiness an Obama celebration" 9pm/8pm CT #ThankYouObama pic.twitter.com/N6tlFs2d3T
— COMMON (@common) November 15, 2016
Usher unfortunately did not twerk, but did get everyone on their feet, dancing and singing along to his greatest hits.
Ush"@BET: .@Usher got folks thinking they in a club and not on the @WhiteHouse lawn and we love it! #ThankYouObama pic.twitter.com/ml0HK13mzI"
— Nadia Raymond (@NadiaR5) November 14, 2016
Samuel L. Jackson also joked about Obama wanting to leave the White House. “So you want to leave, huh? Just can’t take it no more?” asked the actor. “I get it, you’re a better man than me sir. You really care about us, and the American people, and we applaud you for that.”
Another great moment was when Odom Jr. created his own rap dedicated to Obama.
The White House celebration Chapelle talked about on Saturday was a night like no other. So happy @BET will air it tonight. #ThankYouObama pic.twitter.com/NOMVPF9oK7
— Leslie Odom, Jr. (@leslieodomjr) November 15, 2016
And yes, for those wondering, Bradley Cooper was there.
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