Almost four years ago to the day, at the time of Joe Biden’s inauguration, two of the world’s biggest pop stars performed. Lady Gaga, also present at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, performed the American national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner (“the star-spangled banner”). Then Jennifer Lopez performed the patriotic song This land is your land (“This country is your country”).
Four years later, for Donald Trump’s return to the White House, who will be present? Accused of threatening individual freedoms and the rights of minorities, the Republican has often been shunned by major stars of music and entertainment. The biggest American stars had also supported his Democratic opponent, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé in the lead.
Les Village People headlining
The Village People, whose hit Y.M.C.A. is an essential part of Donald Trump’s meetings, have agreed to play during the festivities surrounding the inauguration of the future president of the United States. “We know that this will make people unhappy, but we believe that music must live without political considerations,” the founder of the disco group, Victor Willis, explained on his Facebook page on Monday. “Our song Y.M.C.A. is a global anthem that can hopefully bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign in which our favorite candidate lost,” he added, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Lots of country
The 47e President of the United States will also be able to count on the presence of country singer Carrie Underwood, who should perform the patriotic song America The Beautiful.
Another country group, the Rascal Flatts, will perform, as will Lee Greenwood and Parker McCollum, billed by the future US presidency as “an award-winning rising star in country music”. The anthem will this time be performed by opera singer Christopher Macchio.
Marion Maréchal, Musk and Zuckerberg, Obama…
Gathered a few days ago for the funeral of Jimmy Carter, the former American presidents will be there again on January 20. George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama will be there… But former first lady Michelle Obama will not be.
The bosses of the American tech giants, at the heart of the news in recent days, will also be there. Elon Musk – who is part of the Trump administration – of course, but also Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. A few hours before a possible ban on the platform in the United States, TikTok boss Shou Chew will be present, among the guests of honor.
On the political side, no foreign head of state or government is traditionally invited to the inauguration ceremony of American presidents. But Donald Trump deviated from this tradition by inviting some, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, announced earlier this month that he would attend the event. Other European far-right figures such as Éric Zemmour, Marion Maréchal and one of the leaders of the German AfD party, Tino Chrupalla, have also announced their presence.
