President Obama began his second term with his inauguration earlier this week and with the ceremony came a number of galas. Soundgarden‘s Chris Cornell, one of Obama’s many supporters, was invited to perform at the Commander-in-Chief’s Ball, which recognized Medal of Honor recipients and Wounded Warriors, and video footage of his entire performance has surfaced online.
Cornell, armed with an acoustic guitar, took the stage to perform a trio of cover songs. However, with some microphone problems on the guitar, the set really provided a spotlight on his voice. The vocalist took the stage, telling the audience, “I’ve got to say this is an honor to play for you guys and to celebrate this event, the re-election of President Obama, so thank you so much.” From there he launched into ‘(What’s So Funny Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,’ the Nick Lowe song popularized by Elvis Costello.

After making note of the microphone issue, he would perform his other two tracks with a little more amplification for the guitar. First came a powerful performance of the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic ‘Long As I Can See the Light,’ which really showed off the wonderful rasp and emotion in Cornell’s voice. He followed with what he called “a song of hope or an impossible dream maybe” — a cover of John Lennon‘s ‘Imagine.’ The full almost ten-minute performance can be seen below.

Cornell would return later in the evening with the full Soundgarden lineup to perform at the Inaugural Ball, doing a three-song set of ‘Been Away Too Long,’ ‘Outshined’ and ‘Rusty Cage’ for those in attendance.

-loudwire.com

Watch Chris Cornell’s Commander-in-Chief’s Ball Performance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn1vH2kurjo