Some unexpected musicians are set to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration next week, including some who have a long history of feuding with the president-elect.
So far, country singer-songwriter Carrie Underwood and disco group the Village People have agreed to perform at the forty-seventh president’s inauguration.
“We are announcing today that VILLAGE PEOPLE have accepted an invitation from President Elect Trump’s campaign to participate in inaugural activities, including at least one event with President Elect Trump,” Victor Willis, a founding member of the group, wrote on Facebook, arguing that the event would serve as an opportunity to unite the country.
“We know this wont make some of you happy to hear, however we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics.”
This is despite the group’s legal history with the former president. Willis wrote a cease and desist letter to Trump in 2020 after the Republican presidential candidate refused to stop playing “Macho Man” and the “Y.M.C.A.,” calling Trump’s repeated use of the song a “nuisance.”
(Willis later defended Trump’s use of the song, saying he didn’t “have the heart” to tell Trump to stop dancing to “Y.M.C.A.”)
The Village People were one of dozens of artists who sued Trump for using their music without permission (or compensation) at his campaign events.
Other artists who were offended included Sinéad O’Connor, The Beatles, Adele, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Guns N’ Roses, Leonard Cohen, Queen, Prince, Pharrell, the Rolling Stones, Johnny Marr from The Smiths, Rihanna, Neil Young, Linkin Park, the late Tom Petty, and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.
Meanwhile, Underwood is set to perform a rendition of “America the Beautiful” at Trump’s ceremony. The country music star has avoided political labels for years, but in 2017, she took a direct shot at Trump during the Country Music Awards, parodying her song “Before He Cheats” with a controversial line about Trump’s incendiary social media behavior.
“It’s entertaining to watch, until Rocket Man starts a nuclear war…” “And maybe next time, he’ll think before he tweets,” Underwood sang with Brad Paisley.
Nonetheless, in a 2019 interview with The Guardian, Underwood claimed that her politics were undefined.
“I feel like more people are trying to pin me places politically,” she said at the time. “Everyone tries to summarise everything and tie it up in a bow, as if it were black and white. And it is not like that.”
Trump struggled to find musicians to perform at his previous inauguration, with reports circulating that some of his favorites, including Céline Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Garth Brooks, and Sir Elton John, flatly refused the invitations.
