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SALT LAKE CITY -- It took a while for it to happen, but James Taylor has finally teamed up with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on stage.
The pop star sang a dozen songs Friday night in Salt Lake City, some with the 360-person choir, some with the Utah Symphony and some with his touring combo.
A capacity crowd of 21,000 cheered as he sang some of his classics — "Shower the People," "Fire and Rain," and "Carolina in My Mind," among others.
Taylor raved about the choir, calling it "a national treasure and a great gift to the world." After singing "Lonesome Road," he said the song had "died and gone to heaven" with the choir singing backup to him.
"It just is extremely fulfilling to me to come to Salt Lake City and to meet these wonderful people and to be part of this community for a week or so," he said, according to Mormon Newsroom. "It's something that I've been really looking forward to, and it's just a great pleasure, delight and honor."
Choir music director Mack Wilberg told Mormon Newsroom, "We've had a wonderful time. It's taken the choir a little bit out of our box, but in a really wonderful way."
Taylor raved about the choir, calling it "a national treasure and a great gift to the world."
Choir officials first approached Taylor about performing together in 2006. Taylor says it "just took us a long time to find the date, (but it) was worth the wait."
The choir has performed with other stars from outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the last decade, including Sting, Sissel and Rene Fleming.
Contributing: Linda Williams
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