Obama To Honor Carole King, The First Woman To Receive The Gershwin Prize For Popular Song From The Library Of Congress, In A White House Concert

Singer-songwriter, Carole King, 71, will be the first woman to receive the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress, and she will be honored by President Barack Obama at the White House next week.

The White House says that Obama will present the award to King during a concert Wednesday and he program will include performances by King, Gloria Estefan, Billy Joel, Jesse McCartney, Emeli Sande, James Taylor and Trisha Yearwood, the Associated Press reports.

President Obama and King, a resident of central Idaho, have a bit of a history considering that  she recorded a video endorsement for Mr. Obama's reelection campaign last summer, the Washington Times reports.  "President Obama understands how important rural America is," King said during the endorsement. "Rural America is part of his DNA."

King received four Grammys in the early 1970s and has created a number of hits including 'You've Got a Friend,' 'It's Too Late,' 'So Far Away' and '(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman,' according to the Washington Times.  She has been awarded a couple of different honors lately, receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December and being among the Lifetime achievement honorees at the 2013 Grammy Awards, Contact Music reports.

The concert will be hosted in the East Room of the White House, according to the Washington Times.  The concert is part of the 'In Performance at the White House' series, according to the Los Angeles Times.  It can be streamed live at www.whitehouse.gov and will be broadcast on PBS stations on May 28.

King will also be honored in a Broadway-bound musical entitled, 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,' the LA Times reports.  This theatrical performance spans the King's Brooklyn beginnings, five-decade-long career and marriage to songwriter Gerry Goffin.  The musical is going to have an out-of-town tryout at San Francisco's SHN Curran Theatre before its Broadway debut, scheduled for next spring.  The musical numbers include, 'You've Got a Friend,' 'So Far Away' and '(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman.'