Obama welcomes crowd to White House to honor civil rights music

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama welcomed an all-star lineup of performers to the East Room of the White House yesterday to pay tribute to the music of the civil rights era.

The grand ballroom was transformed into a concert hall packed with members of Obama's Cabinet, Congress, civil rights leaders and students for a program that will air on public television later this week for Black History Month.

Queen Latifah sang her rendition of the Marvin Gaye classic "What's Going On." And Yolanda Adams gave a spirited rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come."

Obama says the civil rights movement "was a movement sustained by music."

Also performing were Smokey Robinson, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Natalie Cole, Jennifer Hudson and John Legend.