April 27, 2012 9:41

Barack Obama on his Al Green performance: 'I can sing!'

President says he 'wasn't worried' about singing 'Let's Stay Together' at a fundraiser in January

Photo: PA

President Barack Obama says he wasn't nervous about his performance of Al Green's 'Let's Stay Together' at a charity fundraiser in January.

"I can sing," he told Rolling Stone. "I wasn't worried about being able to hit those notes."

The US president surprised supporters in January when he sang the opening lines of Al Green's classic 'Let's Stay Together' at a political rally in New York. A clip from the event immediately went viral, and it has become the official song for his re-election campaign.

Speaking of the day he made his singing debut, he said:

It was my fifth event of the day…I wanted to hear Al Green. The guys who were working the soundboard in the back, a couple of real good guys, they say, 'Oh, man, you missed the Reverend, but he was terrific, he was in rare form. So I was frustrated by that. Since I was on my fifth event and have been yakking away for several hours on all kinds of policy stuff, I just kind of broke into a rendition of 'Let's Stay Together.' And they're like, 'Oh, so the president, you can sing, man. You should do that onstage.

Sales of the soul classic 'Let's Stay Together' shot up by almost 500 per cent after Obama's performance at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem on January 19. The track, which was originally released in 1971, sold over 16,000 downloads in the week ending January 22, which is a 490 per cent increase from the previous week.

As well as singing, Obama also paid tribute to Green, who was sitting in the crowd, saying: "Don't worry Rev, I cannot sing like you, but I just wanted to show my appreciation."??

You can watch Barack Obama’s rendition of 'Let's Stay Together' below.

The world's greatest music magazine is now available as a digital edition! For exclusive content you won't find on NME.COM, download here on your iPad/iPhone and here on your Kindle Fire or Nook.

Share on Facebook