Atlanta Events category interest

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Celebrations for Jimmy Carter’s upcoming 100th birthday began Tuesday with Atlanta’s Fox Theatre’s hosting of “Delta Air Lines Presents: Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song.”

Carter will turn 100 on Oct. 1, 2024, marking another milestone in the life of America’s longest living ex-president in history.

Tuesday’s event honoring Carter included artists from pop, rock, gospel, country, jazz, hip-hop and classical music. Performers included Athens’ own The B-52s; singer-songwriter Duane Betts, son of legendary Allman Brothers Band co-founder Dickey Betts; singer-songwriter Carlene Carter, daughter of June Carter Cash; Angélique Kidjo, BeBe Winans, India Arie; Lalah Hathaway; Chuck Leavell; D-Nice; Drive-By Truckers; Eric Church; GROUPLOVE; Maren Morris; The War And Treaty; and The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus.

Other celebrity guests included Academy Award-winning actress Renée Zellweger and former Braves players Terry Pendleton and Dale Murphy. Dr. Bernice King and Monica Pearson spoke at the event, and Ambassador Andrew Young was in attendance.

The evening included video birthday wishes from former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and musicians Dave Matthews and Norah Jones.

Mary Wharton, director of the documentary “Jimmy Carter: Rock andamp; Roll President,” also presented a short film exploring Carter’s relationship with popular musicians.

Emmy award-winner Rickey Minor was the show’s musical director.

“I think he understood how important music is and so you find the songs and the material and artists that can pay tribute to him through music, and I think it’s going to be a big celebration. We looked and we tried to pick the right song and the right timbres and inclusion of artists in all genres,” Minor said before the event. “The artists that are performing have chosen material that they feel will uplift, not only the President, but will uplift this country and the world,” he said.

Hours ahead of the show, Atlanta News First also spoke with the president and CEO of the Fox Theatre.

“My understanding is that he had a very eclectic taste in music and loved all kinds of music and felt music brought people together, so that’s what The Fox does,” said Allan Vella, president and CEO of The Fox Theatre. “The Fox brings people together so we’re very honored to be hosting this very special event tonight,” he said.

“He’s definitely special to us as one of Georgia’s own. He’s done such good work as a humanitarian all around the world but even here in Atlanta, in Georgia,” Vella said. “If it’s in Habitat of Humanity or if it’s with the Carter Center, he’s just had a life of Service and so you have to love and appreciate that,” he said.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta is hosting a JC100 Film Festival from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The library said it will be showing some of Carter’s favorite list of films that were shown at the White House during his administration. Museum and event admission is free.

As Georgia governor, Carter started the state’s film office after the success of “Deliverance,” one of the first films ever made in the Peach State. Released in 1972 and based on writer James Dickey’s debut novel of the same name, it starred Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox and Jon Voight and was filmed in northeast Georgia communities of Clayton and Rabun counties. It became a huge commercial success.

Carter has been in hospice care for more than a year. He officially became America’s oldest living ex-president on March 21, 2019, surpassing George H.W. Bush, who died in November 2018 at the age of 94 years and 171 days old. Prior to Bush, previous record holders were Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Herbert Hoover and John Adams.

Carter was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, a small farming town located about 150 miles south of downtown Atlanta. He grew up in the nearby community of Archery.

Carter attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology before heading to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1946. While serving in the Navy, he became a submariner and rose to the rank of lieutenant.

On July 7, 1946, Carter married Rosalynn Smith. Seven years later, he resigned from the Navy and returned to Georgia. Carter was an active member of the community and eventually entered the political world in 1962, when he was elected to the Georgia Senate.