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Kanye West, Wilco, Beyonce, Mellencamp Shout Out Historic Obama Victory

11/6/08, 1:52 pm EST

Photo: Forrest/Getty

As the world celebrates Barack Obama’s victory, countless rockers and rappers have praised and congratulated the new President. In addition to new songs from Thom Yorke and Will.i.am, rapper Common also released a new Obama-inspired song entitled “Changes.” Chicago natives have also posted messages on their Websites to their former homestate Senator: Wilco put up a photo of themselves and Obama with the caption “Congratulations to our Senator, our friend, and our President-elect Barack Obama on his historic victory last night,” while Kanye West posted on his blog “Hi Mom. Obama won!”

Madonna and R.E.M. also paid tribute to Obama during a pair of concerts on Tuesday night, with Madonna telling the San Diego crowd, “This is the beginning of a whole world” before revealing to the CNN-less crowd that Obama had been elected. Michael Stipe also informed the crowd in Chile that Obama had been elected, which was greeted with loud cheers, before the band played “I Believe.” John Mellencamp reflected on the election on his website, saying “This for me is something I never thought I would see in my life.” Mavis Staples released a statement, saying, “To come up in a time when there was slavery, racism, the KKK, and Jim Crow, I’m just so grateful to still be here to enjoy this historical time in our lives. It is so surreal, so completely overwhelming.” Beyoncé has even volunteered her services by offering to play Obama’s inauguration in January. Judging by Obama’s giant fan club in the music industry, there’ll be no shortage of artists eager to welcome Obama into office.