Michelle Obama makes surprise appearance at Grammy Awards, gets standing ovation

In the midst of her extensive Becoming book tour, former United States First Lady Michelle Obama made an unexpected visit to the 61st Grammy Awards.

The 55-year-old took the stage with a few more of the world’s strongest female voices: Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez and this year’s host of “music’s biggest night,” Alicia Keys.

Keys, 38, invited the all-star cast to the stage to share some of their favourite styles of music, and ultimately what music really means to them.

“From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side to the Who Run the World songs that fuelled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story, and I know that’s true for everybody here,” said Obama.

The 21,000-strong crowd erupted into applause during her surprise speech.

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“Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves, our dignity and sorrows, our hopes and joys,” added Obama.

“It allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in. Music shows us that all of it matters — every story within every voice, every note within every song. Is that right, ladies?”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in. Music shows us that all of it matters — every story within every voice, every note within every song. Is that right, ladies?"

Obama then received a standing ovation — likely due to her subtle Beyoncé reference.

Directly after hitting the stage, she took to Twitter to further show her gratitude. Obama also revealed that she made an appearance to show support for Keys — who is a close friend of hers and the rest of the Obama family.

“A big part of friendship is showing up for your girls — that’s why I was thrilled to be there for the one and only Alicia Keys at the #Grammys,” she wrote. “She is one of the most genuine and thoughtful people I know. There’s no one better to help us all celebrate the unifying power of music!”

Keys was revealed to be the host of this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony only last month.

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“Music is what we all love, music is what it’s all about,” said Keys. “Everybody is out here shining and I’m so proud to bring us together to honour this moment, because music is what we cry to, it’s what we march to and it’s what we rock to, it’s what we make love to.”

“It’s our shared global language,” she concluded.

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It wasn’t just the crowd filled with excitement upon Obama’s appearance.

With #Grammys trending all night, pictures of Obama paired with genuine words of kindness popped up on Twitter.

“Yes!” wrote another user. “I wish Michelle Obama would run for President. I know we need someone like her to clean up the cheeto dust from the White House.”

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Before hitting the rest of the world — Canada included — Obama is currently touring the U.S. with a series of sold-out shows titled ‘An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama.’

Obama answers questions, interacts with fans and details everything relevant to her critically acclaimed 2018 autobiography, Becoming.

The book gives in-depth insight on her life growing up to meeting former President Barack Obama, raising her family, being a world-renowned social activist and her time living in the White House.

Additional details and ticket information can be found here.

You can also find the full list of Grammy winners and nominees in the main categories here.