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Beyoncé · S4 E7
At Last
Obama's inauguration, Etta James's anger, and the politics of covering a classic
January 20, 2009. Beyonce stands at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball, looks at Barack and Michelle Obama, and sings the opening notes of "At Last" to a nation holding its breath.
Beyonce performs "At Last" at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball for President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (January 20, 2009). Three minutes that capture the intersection of pop music and American history.
At Last
Etta James records "At Last" in 1960, transforming a 1941 big-band instrumental into one of the defining American love songs. Beyonce's version, performed at the inaugural ball, strips the arrangement to piano, strings, and voice. She sings in a lower register than her typical range, channeling the Etta James vocal approach she studied for the film Cadillac Records. The restraint is deliberate: the occasion demands reverence, not spectacle.
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“I was so nervous. I practiced the song over and over the night before. This was not a concert. This was history.”
— Beyonce, CNN, January 2009
Which bandleader originally recorded "At Last" as an instrumental in 1941?
Ave Maria
An I Am... Sasha Fierce album track that reimagines the classical prayer as a modern devotional, featuring some of Beyonce's most technically demanding vocal work on the record.
The inauguration cements Beyonce as America's voice for historic moments, but her biggest night is still ahead. A record-breaking Grammy sweep, an opening performance that shocks the room, and the final act of the Sasha Fierce era.
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