Recently, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama honored Sir Paul McCartney, the third recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress. It was a big bash featuring many well known stars including the Jonas Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Faith Hill and Jerry Seinfeld among others. McCartney himself also performed along with some of the musicians that he has influenced.
The event took place in the East Room and honored the former Beatle as the winner of this year. The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song is the country’s highest award for pop music.
The event was taped and will air as a 90 minute program on PBS stations across the US on 28 July. McCartney said that he is “highly honored to be given the Gershwin Prize by such a great institution as the Library of Congress.”
The Gershwin prize commemorates George and Ira Gershwin, who were great American songwriters who contributed extensively to popular music. The prize is awarded to those musicians whose lifetime contributions to the popular song arena embody the kind of excellence that is associated with the Gershwins. The Prize also draws attention to the vast popular music collection in the Library of Congress, thus encouraging students, scholars, teachers and researchers to abundantly use this free public resource in their scholarly pursuits.
The first Gershwin Prize went to Paul Simon (May 2007), the second went to Stevie Wonder (Feb 2009) and McCartney is the third recipient.
For the Jonas Brothers, the chance to perform at the White House came as a further recognition to their influence on the popular music scene. Earlier in May, the Jonas Brothers were invited on a tour of the National Museum of American History.
The Jonas Brothers were raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey. As sons of musical parents, they grew up in a family where singing was a way of life. They always sang together as a family and then began writing songs and playing instruments together. It was Nick, the youngest Jonas who first caught the attention of a record company, but soon the recruiters realized that the three brothers cast as a group would be great. Their first album was for Columbia Records.
Kevin Jonas born 1987, Joe Jonas born 1989 and Nick Jonas born September 1992 are the members of the band – The Jonas Brothers. The teenage crowd absolutely loves the Jonas Brothers. They are a highly influential group especially in the popular music category.
With the chance to perform at the White House to honor Sir Paul McCartney, the trio is being recognized as a band that has the power and potential to leave their indelible mark on the popular music scene.
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