Carrie Underwood is slated to perform “America the Beautiful” at the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. – Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Carrie Underwood is slated to perform at Donald Trump’s forthcoming presidential inauguration.
According to a program being circulated online for the Jan. 20 event, Underwood will sing “America the Beautiful” with the Armed Forces Chorus and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club. The performance will be held 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.
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The inauguration program was initially posted on X (formerly Twitter). It also states that vocalist Christopher Macchio will perform the National Anthem following the inaugural address. Axios confirmed Underwood’s participation, citing Trump’s transition team. (A rep for Underwood did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.)
Underwood has not publicly commented on the 2024 presidential election. In 2016, the singer told Rolling Stone: “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.”
The Trump campaign famously had a tough time finding artists willing to perform at his 2017 inauguration. 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 more.
“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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:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/whoopi-goldberg-carrie-underwood-011425-20023c2856dc4dfcb209ada3a07a02ad.jpg "Whoopi Goldberg supports Carrie Underwood’s right to sing at Trump inauguration")
