Women Of Soul At The White House

Once you have Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle on a “soul music” show, you can pack pretty much anyone else around the edges and get where you were looking to go.

This special, the edited version of a show performed at the White House in March (2014), goes a little further than that, bringing in a rainbow of women, from jazz great Jill Scott to contemporary pop star Ariana Grande ...with Janelle Monae and Melissa Etheridge to boot.

The musical peaks bookend the special.

LaBelle kicks it off with one of her longtime personal favorites, “Over the Rainbow,” in which she hits notes no one should be hitting when they’re two months from turning 70.

Franklin, after singing “I Never Loved a Man” in the middle of the program, closes it with “Amazing Grace,” which is as striking as you’d expect. MORE HERE

The special presentation Women of Soul: In Performance at the White House airs tonight (Monday April 7, 2014) on PBS. Check your local listing HERE