Michelle Obama shocked the audience at home and in the Staples Center in Los Angeles when she made a surprise appearance at Sunday’s (Feb. 10) 61st annual Grammy Awards along with some of the who’s who of Hollywood.
“Ya’ll didn’t think I was coming out here by myself, did you?” Grammys host Alicia Keys said during her opening monologue. “Please, can I bring some of my sisters out here tonight?”
Obama then appeared on stage along with Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopezand Lady Gaga.
“From the Motown records I wore out on the Southside [of Chicago], to the ‘Who run the World’ songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story,” Obama said in front of the audience that applauded and cheered her on.
“Whether we like country, or rap, or rock — music helps us share ourselves,” Obama, continued on to the crowd. “Our dignity, and our sorrows, our hopes and joys. 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,” the former First Lady said.
“Is that right, ladies?” Obama said to applause.
“What is better than this?” Alicia Keys asked. “Tonight we celebrate the greatness in each other, all of us, through music,” Keys said.
After leaving the stage, Obama made a special post on her Instagram, giving a shoutout to Keys, who she called “one of the most genuine, caring, and thoughtful people I know—there’s no one better to help us all celebrate the unifying power of music!”
Currently, Obama is touring across the United States in support of her new memoir, “Becoming.” The book became the best-selling book of 2018, selling 2 million copies in 15 days.