Paul McCartney brought the White House down when he performed at the presidential residence, even belting out the Beatles hit Michelle for the first lady.

Performing in front of US president Barack Obama, he serenaded first lady Michelle Obama with the words, "I love you, I love you, I love you," before joking he might be the "first guy ever to be punched out by a president".

The president didn't seem to mind though - he was swaying along to the beat while his wife mouthed the words along with McCartney.

The 90-minute concert was built around Obama's presentation to McCartney of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, awarded by the Library of Congress. The president said McCartney had "helped to lay the soundtrack for an entire generation".

McCartney, 67, said it was a moment like no other.

"I don't think there could be anything more special than to play here," he said.

And then he volunteered to make it a regular gig.

"Lunchtimes, we could come around," he offered. "We're cheap."

The concert featured an all-star lineup of top performers doing their own interpretations of some of McCartney's greatest hits. Stevie Wonder had the Obamas clapping to We Can Work It Out, the Jonas Brothers did Baby You Can Drive My Car and Corinne Bailey Rae slowed things down with Blackbird.

Elvis Costello crooned Penny Lane, and called it a "thing of wonder and beauty", noting that his mother grew up not far away from the now-famous street in Liverpool.