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Obama Awards Stevie Wonder with Gershwin Prize

HeadlineFeb 26, 2009

And President Obama honored the musician Stevie Wonder last night at a White House ceremony. Obama presented Wonder with the nation’s highest honor for popular music, the Library of Congress Gershwin Award for Lifetime Achievement.

President Obama: “Just like Michelle, it was Stevie’s albums that I found, and his songs became the soundtrack of my youth. And through them, I found peace and inspiration, especially in difficult times. And I think it’s fair to say that had I not been a Stevie Wonder fan, Michelle might not have dated me. We might not have married. So the fact that we agreed on Stevie was part of the essence of our courtship. And I’m not alone. Millions of people around the world have found similar comfort and joy in Stevie’s music and his unique capacity to find hope in struggle and humanity in our common hardships.”

Wonder went on to perform several songs for President Obama and assembled guests. The ceremony was a long way from one of Wonder’s most politically charged songs. His 1974 number one hit “You Haven’t Done Nothing” is known as a pointed criticism of then-President Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War and Watergate.

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