The 2024 Democratic National Convention is poised to be a historic event as Vice President Kamala Harris will be the first Black woman and first Asian American to head a major party ticket. And fans are hoping the world’s biggest icons — Beyoncé and Taylor Swift — will make a special appearance.
This year’s convention will kick off in Chicago on Monday with vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz making an address on Wednesday and Harris closing out the convention with her acceptance speech Thursday night.
President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton are among the headline speakers. However, for the Beyhive and Swifties, the question remains: Will their favorite artist hit the stage in support of Harris?
While the answer remains uncertain, here’s what we know about each singer’s political track record and recent moves to help better determine the likelihood of them joining forces in the name of politics next week.
Beyoncé clears ‘Freedom’ song for VP Harris
It should be noted, Walz has been deemed a certified Beyhive member and Beyoncé’s mom, Tina Knowles, has already endorsed Harris as the next U.S. president. Moreover, last summer, Harris attended Beyoncé’s Renaissance concert just outside of Washington after the superstar gifted her tickets.
On top of those ties, Beyoncé’s camp gave Harris approval to use Beyoncé’s 2016 song “Freedom” featuring Kendrick Lamar on Harris’ campaign trail. And Harris first used the song when making her first official visit to her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware — a day after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Harris.
Beyoncé has performed at political events in the past
Harris’ usage of “Freedom” is certainly not the first time Beyoncé’s used her music to support presidential candidates and on political stages.
In 2009, Beyoncé sang for former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as the couple took their first dance in the positions at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball. Four years later, she famously performed “The Star Spangled Banner” at Barack Obama’s 2013 Inauguration ceremony. And in 2016, the superstar and her husband, hip-hop mogul Jay Z, headlined a rally for then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Cleveland, Ohio.
As fans know, the “Ya Ya” singer released her groundbreaking album “Cowboy Carter” March 29. While she is notorious for moving in silence and always having a lot on her plate, at the moment there are no public events that might conflict with the timing of the DNC.
Taylor Swift has supported Harris as VP before
As for Swift, she has certainly not been shy about using her voice to make her political stances clear.
A month before the 2020 election, Swift posted a photo on Instagram of “Biden 2020” cookies she made encouraging voters to paint the election box blue. She wrote: “I spoke to @vmagazine about why I’ll be voting for Joe Biden for president,” Swift wrote in the caption. “So apt that it’s come out on the night of the VP debate. Gonna be watching and supporting @KamalaHarris by yelling at the tv a lot.
There’s time for Swift to make DNC, even with tour
The “Tortured Poets” singer has a few shows left in London and nine in the United States before Election Day — and six of those concerts are in the swing states of Florida and Indiana. Though she has yet to endorse a candidate this election cycle, Swifties have already speculated that she may have hinted at her approval of Harris as the next president during an Eras Tour concert in Hamburg, Germany.
As Swifties know, one must decode a series of Easter eggs to get the potential message. The light-up wristbands handed out before that show lit up in red, white and blue when Swift — wearing a blue dress — played a mashup of her songs the “Last Great American Dynasty” and “Run.”
As far as the timing of the tour in relation to the DNC, the superstar will be performing in London on Tuesday night, which would wrap by Tuesday evening central time. This gives her plenty of time to make it to the windy city on her private jet and attend events happening Wednesday and Thursday.
Neither ladies have performed at previous Democratic or Republican national conventions. However, it will only be a matter of days to see if this year is different.
Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network’s Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Will Beyoncé, Taylor Swift attend the DNC in Chicago? What we know
