Lady Gaga, the Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter, will sing the US national anthem while singer-dancer Jennifer Lopez will present a musical performance at the West Front of the US Capitol in Washington DC, where President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in as the country’s 46th president on January 20.
Along with Biden, Kamala Harris will also be sworn in as the vice president. Harris will be the first female, Black and Asian vice president.
The singers announced news of their performances on their social media handles.
I am deeply honored to be joining @BidenInaugural on January 20 to sing the National Anthem and celebrate the historic inauguration of @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris! 💙 pic.twitter.com/MfgcG3j4Aa
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) January 14, 2021
The ceremony will also feature Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks hosting a 90-minute primetime television show, which will include musical performances by Justin Timberlake, Jon Bon Jovi, Demi Lovato and Ant Clemons as part of the swearing-in celebrations.
While Lady Gaga will sing The Star-Spangled Banner, other performances include Andrea Hall, a firefighter, who will lead the Pledge of Allegiance, Amanda Gorman, the first National Youth Poet Laureate, from Los Angeles, who will recite a poem, Variety reported. Biden’s family friends, Father Leo O’Donovan and Reverend Silvester Beaman will deliver an invocation and benediction, respectively.
Lay Gaga was among the Hollywood personalities to openly support Biden and Harris. She had campaigned for the duo in Pittsburgh on November 3, 2020, a day before the presidential elections. Referring to Trump as “a man who believes his fame gives him the right to grab one of your daughters or sisters or mothers or wives by any part of their bodies,” she had said: “Vote for Joe. He is a good person.”
She had later congratulated Biden and Harris after they won the presidential election.
. @JoeBiden @KamalaHarris and the American people, you just gave the world one of the greatest acts of kindness and bravery humanity has ever seen. ❤️ 🙌🙌 nothing but love for our new Commander in Chief and the 1ST female VP elected to the White House. Also, way to go PA 😭❤️ pic.twitter.com/uXiMTWs6Hk
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) November 7, 2020
The inauguration ceremony in 2017 of outgoing President Donald Trump and outgoing Vice President Mike Pence saw Jackie Evancho, a 20-year-old finalist of reality show America’s Got Talent, singing the national anthem. The event also saw performances by singers Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood, and rock band 3 Doors Down.
In the 2013, when former president Barack Obama was being sworn in for his second term, Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Beyonce had sung the national anthem.
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Trump has issued an emergency declaration for Washington, the capital of the USA, after pro-Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6 while the Congress was counting presidential votes. More than 10,000 National Guard troops will be guarding the city, with about 5,000 more on standby, reported BBC. Biden’s ceremony will also be in line with the Covid-19 protocols, including social distancing. He has also requested people not to travel to Washington, in view of the pandemic.
Trump had earlier mentioned through his Twitter account, that now stands suspended, that he will be skipping the inauguration of his successor, making him the first outgoing president to do so since 1869.