Friday, July 3, 2026

White House Tribute to Ray Charles Has Soul Man Sam Moore Leading Usher, Yolanda Adams, R&B Stars, and Demi Lovato

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The best show of the week will be live streamed Wednesday from the White House of all place. That’s when the Smithsonian tribute to Ray Charles takes place, to be shown on Friday night on PBS.

“Soul Man” Sam Moore is the only performer on the guest list who actually knew Ray, so he’ll be leading a bunch of young -uns including Usher, Yolanda Adams, Anthony Hamilton, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, Leon Bridges, Andra Day, Jussie Smollett from “Empire,” and, hmmm…. Demi Lovato through the massive Ray Charles songbook. Rickey Minor is musical director.

Moore, a youthful 80, and Howard ripped it up last fall at Eddie Murphy’s Mark Twain prize concert for PBS, so this will be a happy reunion.

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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