Daily Times

Former first lady Michelle Obama made a surprise appearance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night and talked about how music has “always helped me tell my story.”

Obama appeared on stage alongside Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and host Alicia Keys.

“From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side -” Obama began, but was immediately drowned out by thunderous applause from the crowd.

After sustained applause, Obama laughed and said, “All right you all, all right, we got a show to do.”

“From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side, to the ‘who run the world’ songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story. And I know that’s true for everybody here,” Obama said.

“Whether we like country, or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves – our dignity and sorrows, our hopes and joys,” the former first lady continued. “It allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in.”

“Music shows us that all of it matters, every story within every voice, every note within every song – is that right ladies?” Obama asked, looking around at the women on stage with her.

Obama’s recently published memoir, “Becoming,” quickly became a best-seller and has become one of the most popular books of the decade. Obama has sold out arenas on her massive international book tour, where she has been interviewed on stage by Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Jessica Parker and former Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, among others.

Obama posted on Twitter after the Grammy appearance, “A big part of friendship is showing up for your girls-that’s why I was thrilled to be there for the one and only @aliciakeys at the #GRAMMYs. She is one of the most genuine and thoughtful people I know-there’s no one better to help us all celebrate the unifying power of music!”

Aretha Franklin honoured

The Grammys did it right. Fantasia Barrino-Taylor, Andra Day and Yolanda Adams took the Grammys audience to church when they honored the late “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin at Sunday’s Grammy Awards.

It was a tribute worthy of the 18-time Grammy winner.

The trio sung Franklin’s 1968 hit, “A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like),” and brought the audience to their feet with their soulful rendition.

Related: Grammy winners 2019: Here’s the full list of who won

The performance was saved for the end of the show, following the in memoriam tribute.

Franklin died of pancreatic cancer in August at the age of 76.

She won her first two Grammys in 1967 for “Respect.” In 1991, she received the Recording Academy’s Grammy Legend Award. She also has five recordings in the Grammy Hall of Fame, including “Respect,” “Chain of Fools,” “Amazing Grace,” “A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like),” and “I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You.”

Published in Daily Times, February 12^th 2019.