Watch Michelle Obama Speak at SXSW, Featuring Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, More

First Lady Michelle Obama is the Opening Keynote Speaker at this year’s SXSW Music conference, going on right now in Austin. She’ll be joined by Missy Elliot, songwriter Diane Warren, and actress Sophia Bush, and the panel will be moderated by Queen Latifah. The talk starts today at 11 a.m. Central time and can be watched below. It’s pegged to the Let Girls Learn initiative, which “aims to break barriers for the 62 million girls around the world who are not in school today, more than half of whom are adolescent.” Last night, the new single “This Is for My Girls,” spearheaded by the First Lady and benefiting Let Girls Learn, was released. Written by Warren, it features Elliott, Janelle Monaé, Kelly Rowland, Kelly Clarkson, Zendaya, Lea Michele, Jadagrace, and Chloe & Halle. (Chloe & Halle, a sister duo signed to Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment, are performing before Michelle Obama’s SXSW speech.) Watch her talk below via SXSW Live and AOL Makers.

Update (12:58 p.m. EST:) Asked to discuss the artists and albums that inspired her the most, the First Lady responded, “Stevie [Wonder] all the way.” She also recalled her childhood experiences listening to Wonder with her grandfather. “For my birthday, he got me Talking Book, and I played that album over and over and over again,” she recalled.

Update (1:06 p.m. EST:) During the panel, Obama was asked about the First Family’s imminent exit from the White House. She responded by singing the titular line from Boyz II Men’s song “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.” Check out footage below. 

Michelle #Flotus Obama singt ein bisschen bei #sxsw2016 & Missy Elliott wippt mit. Love it

A video posted by Matthias Kolb (@matikolb) onMar 16, 2016 at 10:04am PDT

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