Music legend Rev. Al Green is a 2014 Kennedy Center Honor recipient. He received the honor on Sunday, December 7th, but the gala will be broadcast on December 30th at 9 p.m. on CBS.
Green was honored along with Tom Hanks, Sting, ballerina Patricia McBride, and comedian Lily Tomlin.
President Obama, who once sang a little of Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” at a live event, introduced him, saying,
“I can sing a little, but I cannot sing like Al Green. Nobody can sing like Al Green. (Applause.) Nobody can sing like Al Green. That soul, that light falsetto. His music can bring people together. In fact, he says he can hardly go anywhere without a fan coming up to him, pulling out a picture of one of their kids, and telling him which of his songs helped that child enter the world.”
The President held true to his word not to sing it again in front of the man himself, says Green.
“We couldn’t get him to sing the song,” Green told the Tom Joyner Morning Show. “That rascal wouldn’t do it. I wanted him to sing it again because it’s good for record sales. (Laughs). He sounded better than me.”
Green said he enjoyed tributes from everyone else as much as he enjoyed his own. Green was honored with performances from Usher, Earth, Wind and Fire and Jennifer Hudson.
Click the link above to hear the entire interview!
