Country singer Carrie Underwood (R) with US Vice President JD Vance (L) and US President Donald Trump (C) after performing ‘America the Beautiful’ during their inauguration ceremony in the rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Carrie Underwood might not be Beyoncé or Garth Brooks in the celebrity superstar ecosystem. But the singer’s participation in U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration is nevertheless a sign of the changing tides, where mainstream entertainers, from Nelly to The Village People are more enthusiastically associating with the new administration.
Eight years ago, Mr. Trump reportedly struggled to enlist stars to be part of the swearing-in and the various glitzy balls that follow. The concurrent protest marches around the nation had more famous entertainers than the swearing-in, which stood in stark contrast to someone like Barack Obama, whose second inaugural ceremony had performances from Beyoncé, James Taylor, and Kelly Clarkson and a series of starry onlookers.
There were always some celebrity Trump supporters, like Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, Jon Voight, Rosanne Barr, Mike Tyson, Sylvester Stallone, and Dennis Rodman, to name a few. But Mr. Trump’s victory this time around was decisive and while Hollywood may always skew largely liberal, the slate of names participating in his inauguration weekend events has improved.
Follow hereTrump inauguration LIVE
Kid Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus, The Village People, and Lee Greenwood all performed at a MAGA style rally on Sunday. Those performing at inaugural balls include the rapper Nelly, country music band Rascal Flatts, country singer Jason Aldean, and singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw.
Changing tides
“The people who are coming out and participating directly are still a small subset of the entire universe of what we call celebrity,” said Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University. “But we are seeing a lot more celebrities who are coming out and supporting Trump”.
Even some who have publicly criticised Mr. Trump in the past seem to have changed course. One of the highest-profile examples is the rapper Snoop Dogg, who in a 2017 music video pretended to shoot a Trump lookalike, and then this weekend performed at a pre-Inaugural event called The Crypto Ball.
There may still be a tinge of stigma, however. Mr. Thompson pointed to the statement from The Village People, in which they offered a justification for their involvement, which he likened to an apologia.
Also, Mr. Thompson said, “the idea of being featured in a big national civic ritual perhaps can transcend political identity.”
The participation of people like Underwood is not going to change anyone’s mind about Mr. Trump, Mr. Thompson said. It could, however, change minds about the artist. On social media, some declared they were going to delete Underwood’s songs from their playlists.
Where Mr. Trump once emphasised the otherness of a Hollywood that largely shunned him, he’s now turned his attention back to the entertainment capital as a project to be saved. He named Stallone, Voight, and Mel Gibson as his chosen “ambassadors” for the mission. Mr. Thompson said it sounds like an Onion headline or something on Saturday Night Live . That, or a logline for the latest installment in the Expendables franchise.
Following the election, celebrity detractors have also been quieter than in 2017, when nationwide marches brought out the likes of Cher, Madonna, Katy Perry, Alicia Keys, and Janelle Monae. The People’s March in D.C. on Saturday did not boast about any celebrity participants. At the Golden Globe Awards in early January, Mr. Trump’s name was not mentioned on stage — a stark contrast to 2017, when Meryl Streep used her lifetime achievement award speech to decry the President-elect before his first term began.
“They’ve gone through these processes, and it turned out that none of it ever made any bit of difference,” Mr. Thompson said. “All of this celebrity talking against Trump and all of the celebrities going for (Joe) Biden and speaking about the future of democracy not only didn’t make any difference toward the outcome of the election, but one could argue that it actually meant that things moved in the other direction.”
Published – January 21, 2025 10:23 am IST
