As President-elect Barack Obama prepares for his inauguration next Tuesday, many are still wondering who is scheduled to perform at the event. Over the past couple of months, rumors have circulated, suggesting Jennifer Hudson [click to read] and even Jay-Z [click to read] as potential contenders to perform at the historic occasion.
Although details about the actual inauguration still seem to be a bit fuzzy, the Presidential Inaugural Committee has announced a lineup of A-list performers who will officially be kicking off the presidential inauguration festivities. This Sunday, HBO will air We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, a two-hour event which will include performances by Beyonce, will.i.am, Usher, Mary J. Blige, John Legend, and Stevie Wonder. They will join other artists such as U2‘s Bono, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, and more. Each participant will perform one song, some of which the singers have never performed in public before.
“This is a great opportunity to capture an historic event in a very meaningful setting,” said Emmy Award winning producer and director Don Mischer, who has also produced Olympic ceremonies and Super Bowl halftime shows. “We will have the statue of Abraham Lincoln looking down on our stage and a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people lining the mall—a tableau any director would relish.”
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In addition to the musical lineup, actors Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, and Queen Latifah will be on hand to read historical passages. Beginning at 2:30 pm EST at the Lincoln Memorial in DC, members of the public can attend for free and without tickets.
According to MTV.com, Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and each of their families will be attending the concert, and Obama will make an appearance onstage.
The show will air free on HBO on January 18, at 7 p.m. in each U.S. time zone. It will be broadcast on an open feed, allowing those with cable and satellite to view the show without charge.
