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CHICAGO (AP) – Former President Barack Obama, joined by three former presidents, celebrated the opening of his presidential museum in Chicago in an extraordinary event Thursday that brought together world leaders, A-list celebrities, athletes and other internationally known figures.<\/p>\n
Bono, John Legend, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony and Eddie Vedder took turns on the stage ahead of planned performances by Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder.<\/p>\n
Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters were seated on stage with former presidents Joe Biden, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton along with former first ladies Jill Biden, Laura Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Former Vice President Kamala Harris was also in attendance.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump was not in attendance. He called the $850 million center a \u201ctotal disaster\u201d in a social media post in February.<\/p>\n
Michelle Obama spoke directly to her husband when she stepped up to the podium. \u201cEight years in the crucible and not once did you melt in the heat. Not once did you let it harden you.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead, you used it to reveal your truest essence,\u201d she said. \u201cYour stubborn optimism and unflinching courage. Your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency. Your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber. And to do it all as a first.\u201d<\/p>\n
She ticked off highlights from her husband\u2019s eight years in office, including ordering the raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden, \u201cstanding up for marriage equality\u201d and \u201clistening to science.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you did it all with such grace and class and cool,\u201d she said. \u201cYou made the hardest job in the world look like a walk in this beautiful park.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obama appeared to wipe away a tear as she praised him.<\/p>\n
Michelle Obama also referenced the current \u201canxious and divisive times\u201d and warned against being cynical or complacent as \u201ceverything feels so upside down.\u201d She pitched the center as \u201ca respite from all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem and Aguilera delivered a rousing rendition of \u201cWhat a Wonderful World.\u201d Pearl Jam\u2019s Vedder, joined by Chicago teenagers in the nonprofit Guitars Over Guns program, sang an original song called \u201cBetter Believe,\u201d written just for the dedication.<\/p>\n
Legend sang \u201cSomeday We\u2019ll All Be Free\u201d and was joined by the rapper Common and Uniting Voices Chicago for their Academy Award-winning song \u201cGlory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bono, who said he was there representing the Irish, joined with The Edge in singing the U2 song \u201cCity of Blinding Lights.\u201d The Roots served as the house band.<\/p>\n
The invite-only celebration was livestreamed and kicks off a weekend of events centered around the Obama Presidential Center, which opens to the general public on Juneteenth. Thousands more watched from a nearby park.<\/p>\n
Those at the event included California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate; civil rights leaders Andrew Young and Al Sharpton; Oprah Winfrey; comedians David Letterman, Conan O\u2019Brien and Stephen Colbert; actor Tom Hanks; tennis legend Billie Jean King and Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts.<\/p>\n
Former world leaders in attendance included former Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a monument to the Obamas,\u201d said Valerie Jarrett, the Obama Foundation\u2019s chief executive and former Obama top adviser. \u201cThis is a tribute to all those who made this journey possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin Nesbitt, chair of the Obama Foundation board, wore a tan suit in a joking nod toward the outfit Obama wore in 2014, drawing criticism over his fashion choice.<\/p>\n
General admission tickets for the center are sold out through the end of October. But tens of thousands of people have already been offered a sneak peek of the nearly 20-acre campus on Chicago\u2019s South Side in Jackson Park.<\/p>\n
The center, located near where Obama lived and began his political career, is expected to attract more than 1 million visitors annually. It is adjacent to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in the lakefront park, and not far from the University of Chicago.<\/p>\n
The campus includes a towering museum that covers the political and personal realms of the nation\u2019s first Black president and first lady, while public spaces include a branch of the Chicago Public Library, a playground and athletic center, basketball courts and a picnic area with grills.<\/p>\n
The tower\u2019s design is meant to depict four hands coming together in solidarity. Wrapped around one side are 5-foot tall concrete capital letters, an excerpt of Obama\u2019s 2015 speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march. It begins, \u201cYou are America.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CHICAGO (AP) – Former President Barack Obama, joined by three former presidents, celebrated the opening of his presidential museum in Chicago in an extraordinary event Thursday that brought together world leaders, A-list celebrities, athletes and other internationally known figures. Bono, John Legend, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony and Eddie Vedder took turns on the stage ahead … Continue reading Obama Center\u2019s opening draws former presidents, music legends and A-list celebrities<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":1516482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1451],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1516481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-entertainment-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-06-20 13:20:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1516481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1516483,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516481\/revisions\/1516483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1516482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1516481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1516481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1516481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}