Lady Gaga to sing national anthem at Biden's inauguration
Washington, DC - Lady Gaga will sing the national anthem at President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' inauguration on January 20. The Chromatica star campaigned for Biden throughout 2020.
This will be the second time Lady Gaga has performed the Star-Spangled Banner at a major national event, the first being her much-praised rendition at the 2016 Super Bowl.
A Presidential Inaugural Committee official told CNN they are producing a primetime special to celebrate Biden's swearing-in instead of the traditional celebrations, due to concerns over the pandemic.
The celebrity-filled line-up for next week's festivities includes singers Demi Lovato, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Bon Jovi, Justin Timberlake, and Ant Clemmons.
There will be a poetry reading by Amanda Gorman, the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate. Andrea Hall, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 3920 in Fulton County, Georgia, who will deliver the Pledge of Allegiance. The association was the first union to back Biden after he launched his primary campaign. Hall is also the first Black woman in the department's history to be promoted to the rank of fire captain, according to the inauguration committee.
Father Leo J. O'Donovan, a long-time friend of the Bidens and a former Georgetown University president, will give the invocation.
Reverend Dr. Silvester Beaman, Pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Biden's hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, will deliver the benediction.
More guests and performances are expected to be announced within the upcoming days.
The primetime special, called Celebrating America, will be hosted by Tom Hanks and is set to air live on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on January 20.
Cover photo: imago images / ZUMA Wire