Jon Batiste will sing for Macron at Biden’s first state dinner

Musician Jon Batiste is set to perform at President Joe Biden’s first State Dinner at the White House on Thursday, which will highlight longstanding US-France ties and pay tribute to the President Emanuel Macron.

“An artist who transcends generations, Jon Batiste’s music inspires and brings people together,” said Vanessa Valdivia, spokeswoman for first lady Jill Biden, whose office oversees dinner preparations.

“We are thrilled to have him perform at the White House for the Biden-Harris administration’s first state dinner,” Valdivia said.

The black-tie dinner for Macron will be part of what is shaping up to be a busy social season at the White House. The Bidens’ granddaughter, Naomi Biden, married on the South Lawn earlier this month. And first lady Jill Biden was due to unveil the White House decorations on Monday that will be seen by thousands of vacationers over the next month.

Batiste will add a White House entertainer to an already long list of roles, including recording artist, conductor, musical director, film composer, museum creative director and descendant of New Orleans musical royalty. .

He won five Grammys this year, including album of the year for “We Are.” At the awards show in April, Batiste ended his dance performance of “Freedom” by jumping onto Billie Eilish’s table.

Batiste, 36, was most recently bandleader and musical director of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” leaving the show after a seven-year run.

Batiste composed music, consulted and arranged songs for Pixar’s animated film “Soul”. He won a Golden Globe for Music alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails. The trio also won the Oscar for Best Original Score. For their work on “Soul,” Batiste, Reznor and Ross won the Grammy for Best Soundtrack for Visual Media.

The Washington Post was the first to report that Batiste will perform at the dinner.