On January 20, Carrie Underwood is scheduled to perform at Donald Trump‘s presidential inauguration.
After Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh administers the Vice Presidential Oath of Office to JD Vance and before Trump takes the Presidential Oath of Office, Underwood will sing “America the Beautiful” with the Armed Forces Chorus and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club.
At press time, the superstar country music songstress has not publicly commented on the 2024 presidential election, but in a 2016 Rolling Stone interview Underwood stated:
“I don’t want people to vote for somebody because I told them to. I want them to find out about things that they are passionate about and what’s important to them and look at different candidates and policies. And try to make their own decisions on that. That’s where I stand, and I go and cast my vote like everybody else.”
During his 2017 inauguration, the Trump campaign famously had a tough time finding artists willing to perform. At the time, classical-crossover singer Jackie Evancho performed “The Star Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful” was led by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. A separate pre-inauguration concert included performances from 3 Doors Down, Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, and others.
“Even if you’re a Trump supporter, you’ve got to look at how he plays the media [and] the public, in terms of how he attacks and twists things around. I’ve got to think there’s a fear of talking about things and working with him,” music manager Ken Levitan told Rolling Stone at the time. “I do know some of the very conservative [artists] have no desire to do it. … [They] just don’t want to be involved in the circus — it’s a media circus, and not necessarily in a good way.”
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: Matthew Wittkopp from Annapolis, USA