Pitt State grad to play piano at services for former President Carter
Pittsburg State University graduate David Osborne, who went on to become known as “The Pianist for the Presidents,” will be performing this week at functions and memorial services for former President Jimmy Carter.
Six days of observances for Carter began Saturday in Georgia, where he died on Dec. 29 at age 100, and will include a state funeral on Thursday at 10 a.m. in Washington National Cathedral.
After earning his master’s degree in music at Pitt State in 1983, Osborne, native of Miami, Oklahoma, went on to become a renowned pianist in Las Vegas performing in iconic venues like The Bellagio and Caesar’s Palace.
Carter was the first to be hooked by his talent; they met at a book signing in Florida a few years after he graduated, and Osborne gave him an album he’d just recorded.
They formed a friendship, and Osborne went on to play at dozens of his birthday and anniversary parties.
In July 2021, he played at the 75th wedding anniversary of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter – an event that included President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, and former first couples Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. and Laura Bush, and Barack and Michelle Obama.
“Of all the people he could have asked, he called me and I’m just humbled by it,” Osborne told the Las Vegas Review-Journal at the time.
His playlist included favorites of the couple, including John Lennon’s “Imagine” (a favorite of Carter’s), Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind,” a John Denver medley, select Broadway show tunes, and patriotic songs.
At the time, the Carters were the longest living first couple in history, with Jimmy at age 96 and Rosalynn at age 93.
“This is a huge honor,” Osborne told the Review-Journal. “I was just floored when he invited me to do this.”
In August 2023, he played at Rosalynn Carter’s 96th birthday party.
He has played for every president since Carter’s administration, including presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.
All told he has performed some 75 presidential events, with a highlight being Carter’s 100th birthday celebration held in October at Plains High School in Georgia.
In a story reported in the Las Vegas Review Journal, Osborn said after that event: “I never felt deserving of this honor. God just put it together for me, and I’m overwhelmed with the beautiful things that have happened to me over my life as a result of my close friendship with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. It’s just indescribable what they have done for me.”