Washington
CNN
—
Country star Brad Paisley and the Howard Gospel Choir will provide the entertainment at a glitzy, black-tie state dinner at the White House on Thursday as President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden roll out the red carpet for Kenya President William Ruto and first lady Rachel Ruto.
The choice of the singer and choir is a nod to their guests’ love of country and gospel music, the first lady’s office said.
“Distinguished songwriter and recording artist Brad Paisley and the highly acclaimed Howard Gospel Choir were selected by the First Lady to perform musical selections at the State Dinner,” the office of the first lady said in a statement shared first with CNN.
The statement continued, “Brad Paisley and the Howard Gospel Choir were chosen by Dr. Biden to honor President and First Lady Ruto’s love of Country and Gospel music, and in celebration of the continuing friendship between the United States and Kenya.”
A state visit is among the highest diplomatic tools a White House can employ to honor a top ally, with the meticulously planned event aimed at intertwining and highlighting American and Kenyan cultures as Biden seeks to emphasize the strong alliance between the two countries.
This visit will mark the first time an American president has hosted an African leader for a state visit since February 2008, when President George W. Bush hosted the president of Ghana.
Biden, who said he would visit the African continent “soon” in 2022, has yet to make good on that promise. But he has hailed cooperation with Africa and is seeking to build relationships with key leaders as a counter to Russia and China’s inroads on the continent. Jill Biden traveled to Namibia and Kenya in February 2023.
The Grammy-winning Paisley previously performed for a black-tie dinner for bipartisan governors at the White House last year. And he joined Jill Biden for a visit to a pop-up Covid-19 vaccination site in Nashville in June 2021.
Paisley first performed at the White House in 2009 during the Obama administration as part of a music series. He recalled the emotion of singing the song “Welcome to the Future” in front of then-President Barack Obama.
“The last verse is about a kid in high school who’s having a difficult time, and who’s Black, and he has a cross burned in his yard for asking out the homecoming queen. And the line of the chorus is, ‘Wake up Martin Luther, welcome to the future,’” he wrote in a CNN blog post at the time.
He continued, “Being able to deliver that message personally to one of the people who ushered in this new era is really one of the most completely, artistically satisfying moments I’ve ever had.”
