“I’ve Been Crying Ever Since I Saw This…” ❤️🇺🇸 At a powerful and emotional moment that left the crowd speechless, Christina Aguilera stunned attendees at the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center with a never-before-performed public rendition of one of Barack Obama’s favorite songs. As the former president and Michelle Obama watched from the front row, smiles turned into a standing ovation during a performance many are calling one of the most moving tributes of the year.

Christina Aguilera delivered a special performance at the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center.

The event took place on Thursday, June 18 in Chicago at the Center’s John Lewis Plaza, with various musical performances.

Aguilera, 45, showed off her vocals with a rendition of “What a Wonderful World,” a favorite of Barack Obama. The song, an American standard, was first recorded in 1967 by Louis Armstrong.

“When we asked her to sing one of President Obama’s favorite songs, she told us, ‘Well, uh, I’ve never sung it in public before,'” Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation, said while introducing Aguilera. “But she came up with a new arrangement just for this occasion, and we are so grateful.”

As Aguilera sang, the former president was seen smiling beside his wife Michelle Obama, and the two later gave the star a standing ovation.

Additional performers at the event included Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, U2’s Bono and The Edge, Eddie Vedder, Marc Anthony, Tems, Common, Marsai Martin and The Roots.

Obama, 64, is a noted music lover, and regularly shares a list of his favorite songs and artists at the end of each year. In 2025, his picks included Olivia Dean, Lady Gaga and BLACKPINK.

The former president and his wife celebrated the opening of the center, a 19.3-acre global hub designed to inspire, empower and connect changemakers on Chicago’s South Side, alongside their daughters, Malia, 27, and Sasha, 25.

The campus includes the museum — inside the eight-story, brutalist tower dubbed by some the “Obamalisk” — a fitness center, a Chicago public library branch, event spaces, an athletic center and outdoor spaces.

The Obama Presidential Center officially opens to the public on Friday, June 19.

In December, Aguilera marked the 25th anniversary of her holiday album My Kind of Christmas with an enchanting concert film filmed at the Eiffel Tower.

During an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show that same month, the “Beautiful” singer revealed it was a terrifying experience.

“Singing atop the Eiffel Tower, that was…” she began. “I am terrified of heights. I don’t even do Ferris wheels because I’m so afraid of heights. It’s like I’ll do a coaster, but like don’t put me still above up in the air looking down.”

“I was literally terrified,” she continued. “There was a moment, I mean, you just go up and up and up, and I don’t like elevators either. So it’s like double whammy. It’s confined space and we’re like going up and you can see everything … like, you’re exposed, you can see all the things going up. And then there was a point where the guy in the elevator that was taking us up, he was like the elevator stopped all of a sudden. He was like, ‘That is not normal.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean it’s not normal?’ “

Her fear of heights aside, Aguilera said the experience “paid off” and it was “so magical.”