Springsteen, Bono and Stevie Wonder help the Obamas open their presidential museum

The Obama Presidential Center is opening its doors in Chicago with a star-studded dedication ceremony that brings together musicians, former presidents and the Obamas themselves at the long-delayed South Side campus.

The Obama Foundation says the Grand Opening Ceremony takes place June 18 at 11 a.m. CT and will be livestreamed on Obama.org. Public access begins June 19, with a Grand Opening Weekend scheduled for June 19 to June 21.

A high-profile dedication

The foundation lists musical performances and special appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, Common, Eddie Vedder, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Marc Anthony, Marsai Martin, The Roots, Stevie Wonder, Tems, and U2’s Bono and The Edge.

AP reported that former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are also expected to attend the dedication. Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are expected to give remarks.

The event marks the official dedication of the Obama Presidential Center, which sits in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side.

What the opening includes

The Obama Foundation is presenting the opening as a celebration of civic engagement, community, creativity and joy. Valerie Jarrett, a longtime Obama adviser, told AP that the tone is meant to be inspirational and upbeat, with music and performances at the center of the day.

The foundation also says museum tickets for Grand Opening Weekend are sold out. That makes the livestream one of the main ways for the public to watch the dedication as it happens.

The opening weekend is the first public test for the center’s museum and campus after years of construction and delay. The project has been one of the most closely watched presidential center builds in the country, both because of its size and because of its place on the Chicago landscape.

Why it matters

The opening is more than a ceremonial ribbon-cutting. It is the public debut of a major institution tied to Obama’s legacy and to the neighborhood where his political career began.

The campus includes a museum, public spaces and a Chicago Public Library branch, making it part cultural destination and part civic project.

The setting in Jackson Park adds another layer of significance. The South Side location connects the center to the city that shaped Obama’s political rise, while also raising practical questions about access, crowd flow and how the campus will function once the public arrives.

The Obama Foundation’s event page says the ceremony and weekend programming are meant to be part of a broader opening celebration rather than a single day of remarks. That approach gives the site a staged launch: dedication first, then public access, then the first full weekend of visitors.

What to watch next

The immediate questions are straightforward. Will all of the listed performers appear live at the ceremony? Will any additional guests or speakers be added before the event begins? And how smoothly will the first public weekend run once the museum opens on June 19?

For now, the official schedule is set. The dedication begins Thursday morning, the public opening follows on Friday, and the campus enters its first major weekend of operations under the scrutiny that comes with a presidential landmark.