Paul McCartney to Receive Gershwin Prize from President Obama

On June 2nd, Paul McCartney will be honored by President Barack Obama at the White House when the former Beatle receives the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress. The ceremony will also include an all-star concert featuring tributes from Jack White, Stevie Wonder, Dave Grohl, the Jonas Brothers, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris and Faith Hill, plus an appearance by Jerry Seinfeld. McCartney is scheduled to perform at the ceremony, which will air on PBS on July 28th.

McCartney is the third artist to receive the Gershwin Prize after Wonder and Paul Simon scored the honor last year. The prize commemorates iconic American songwriters George and Ira Gershwin by honoring musicians whose “lifetime contributions in the field of popular song exemplify the standard of excellence associated with the Gershwins,” according to the White House. As Rolling Stone previously reported, McCartney hinted at the upcoming White House gig in his first-ever live web chat last week. "There's been some rumors and I think we can give you a clue,” he told fans. “Think white house. Think playing, white house. If there is an announcement mentioning the White House remember where you heard it first."

The ceremony will kick start a summer of unique U.S. concerts by McCartney, who will perform in cities he has either never played before or hasn't visited in decades as part of his Up and Coming Tour. The next leg kicks off in Mexico City on May 27th before arriving stateside with a July 10th gig in San Francisco.

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Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

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