When the East Room of the White House was transformed last night into an intimate blues club for a concert featuring blues all-stars of the past, present and future, President Obama just couldn't say no.
Mick Jagger held out a microphone and the president joined the greats in singing "Sweet Home Chicago," the blues anthem of Obama's hometown.
The blues concert, which also featuring B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, Booker T. Jones, was part of the "In Performance at The White House" series on PBS. It will air Monday.
Last month, he sang a few lines of Al Green's 1972 hit "Let's Stay Together" during a fundraiser in Harlem (Green was present for the occasion):
When Obama ran into Green again at another fundraiser in San Francisco a month later, he declined to sing again, but said "after re-election I might go on tour with the good reverend - be his opening act."
But Obama's singing "career" didn't start with Al Green.
Before he became president, he was captured on video singing Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools" and Dionne Warwick's "Walk On By."
Obama is a strategic thinker, of course, so we can't help but wonder if he's already preparing for a new career once he leaves the White House. Guess we'll have to wait until 2017 to find out for sure.
One thing is certain: if the 2012 presidential race comes down to a singing contest between Obama and Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum, Obama wins in a landslide: