Paul McCartney is to receive one of the United States' most important music awards, the Gershwin prize for popular song. Stevie Wonder, Jack White and the Jonas Brothers will pay tribute to the former Beatle at the White House next month, in a concert presided over by President Barack Obama.

If giving McCartney another award seems a little like giving the sun a temperature prize, er, you're right. But the Gershwin prize isn't meant to honour the obscure and underrated; it's an accolade for the heavy-hitters, a PR showpiece, a chance to bring Elvis Costello and Corinne Bailey Rae face to face with Obama and the man who wrote Spies Like Us.

McCartney will perform at the event on 2 June, which will be televised on 28 July. Artists such as White, Wonder, Costello, Bailey Rae and the Jonas Brothers will play some of Macca's tunes, along with Emmylou Harris, Faith Hill and Herbie Hancock. Jerry Seinfeld will provide "additional" remarks, hopefully in a "comedy" Liverpudlian accent.

Founded by the Library of Congress in 2007, the Gershwin prize has only been awarded on two previous occasions, to Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon. McCartney is the first recipient from outside the United States. According to a release, the prize was judged by a panel including Jimmy Webb, Paul Simon and ASCAP president Paul Williams, and seeks "to honour artists whose creative output transcends distinctions between musical styles and idioms, bringing diverse listeners together, and fostering mutual understanding and appreciation". Something tells us this is code for "very, very, very famous singers".

Librarian of Congress, James H Billington, described McCartney's career without mentioning the Beatles even once. "Sir Paul has been writing and performing for more than five decades – as a member of iconic groups and as a solo artist – in genres ranging from rock'n'roll to classical compositions," Billington said. "He also has made an impact far beyond music through his humanitarianism and activism around the world." Hopefully that will be enough to keep Ringo from getting his hopes up.