--- title: How President Obama Decided to Sing "Amazing Grace" description: "I knew I was going to sing. I was just trying to figure out which key to sing it." canonical: https://time.com/3947754/obama-amazing-grace/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-07T14:19:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:26:02.396Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Knew He Was Going to Sing "Amazing Grace" og:description: "I was just trying to figure out which key to sing it." og:url: https://time.com/3947754/obama-amazing-grace/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24bacf4bd646d2d4/698859cc3c16391865458b5b/obama-pinckney-funeral.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2636 og:image:height: 1483 og:image:alt: President Obama Funeral Clementa Pinckney og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Knew He Was Going to Sing "Amazing Grace" twitter:description: "I was just trying to figure out which key to sing it." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24bacf4bd646d2d4/698859cc3c16391865458b5b/obama-pinckney-funeral.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How President Obama Decided to Sing 'Amazing Grace' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=515045ff-caec-4906-aa2d-4f01bf7e731d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch President Obama Sing ‘Amazing Grace’ at Slain Pastor’s Funeral [Watch (HLS stream): Watch President Obama Sing ‘Amazing Grace’ at Slain Pastor’s Funeral](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/iyU9zc83.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2015-06-26. Obama Amazing Grace_  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Jul 7, 2015 2:19 PM UTC  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Jul 7, 2015 2:19 PM UTC When President Obama first broached the topic of singing “Amazing Grace” as the finale to his eulogy for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney he’d already had his mind pretty much made up: He was going to do it. “When I get to the second part of referring to ‘Amazing Grace,’ I think I might sing,” he told his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, adviser Valerie Jarrett, and two others before the funeral for the South Carolina state senator and pastor murdered along with eight others at a Charleston church last month. Their responses were not encouraging. Jarrett’s answer was a non-committal “Hmm,” while Mrs. Obama was straightforward: “Why on earth would that fit in?” Jarrett, recalling the moment at the Aspen Ideas Festival last week, said she and the First Lady ultimately “encouraged him to do whatever the spirit moved him to do.” [Read the entire story at the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/07/06/obamabaker/?%5Fr=0) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] A wretch like me. I once was [ MUSIC ] Clementa Pinckney found that grace. Cynthia Hurd found that grace. Susie Jackson found that grace. [ INAUDIBLE ] found that grace. The pain Middleton doctor found that grace. [ INAUDIBLE ] found that grace. Daniel Elf Simmons Senior found that grace. Rhonda Coleman Singleton found that grace. Myra Thompson found that grace. [ MUSIC ] Through the example of their lives, they've now passed it on to us. May we find ourselves worthy of that precious and extraordinary gift as long as our lives endure. May grace now lead them home. May God continue to shed his grace, on the United States of America. [ APPLAUSE ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3947754/obama-amazing-grace/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3947754/obama-amazing-grace/"},"headline":"How President Obama Decided to Sing 'Amazing Grace'","datePublished":"2015-07-07T14:19:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:26:02.396Z","description":"\"I knew I was going to sing. 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