Watch Stevie Wonder’s Glowing Tribute to Michelle Obama on ‘Fallon’
Stevie Wonder appeared on The Tonight Show on Wednesday to celebrate Michelle Obama‘s time as First Lady. He dug up two standards from his back catalog – “Isn’t She Lovely” and “My Cherie Amour” – and modified the lyrics of the second tune in Mrs. Obama’s honor, declaring “You’ll always be First Lady in our lives.”
Wonder played with help from the Roots and accompanied his keyboard work with joyous expressions of affection for Obama. Before launching into the easy-rolling “Isn’t She Lovely,” the singer asserted, “I love you, Michelle!” And before moving into “My Cherie Amour,” he paused to explain that the version he was playing was newly customized. “I must tell you Michelle, I wrote this song, but I kind of changed the words a little bit,” he informed the First Lady. “If I don’t get it right, fire me.”
He won’t need to look for a new job any time soon: he successfully transformed “My Cherie Amour” into “My Michelle Amour” and led the crowd – including Jimmy Fallon, Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, and the First Lady – through a “la-la-LAAA-la-la-la” singalong.
At the end of the performance, Wonder reiterated its theme. “We love you, we love you!” he told Obama. “And your husband too, of course.”