Jason Aldean, Billy Ray Cyrus & Gavin DeGraw will play at the inaugural balls

It’s my hope that all of us can protect our peace as much as possible for the incoming political situation. We’ll cover some of it, but I’m not going to feel the same level of outrage and anger as I did from 2016-2020. MAGA world and the media have been expecting to feed on our anger and fear, and they’re really mad that a lot of people are withholding it. We’ll also cover some of the political situations when there’s overlap with the entertainment world. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting the overlap to happen so quickly – for Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration, his team struggled hard to find any celebrity, of any caliber, willing to attend his inaugural events, much less perform at them. But it’s a brand new MAGA world. Not only will Carrie Underwood perform at the inauguration, but a bunch of country music people will perform at the various inaugural balls.

The inauguration festivities for President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance are taking shape as the (near) final roster of events, performers and participants has been unveiled by the committee.

Carrie Underwood, confirmed earlier this week to sing “America the Beautiful” in a move that surprised some fans, will have plenty of company from the country music world when she arrives in Washington, D.C. Billy Ray Cyrus, Jason Aldean, Lee Greenwood, Parker McCollum and Rascal Flatts are booked to hit the stage, either at one of three official inaugural balls or the Make America Great Again Victory Rally. (There are a number of unofficial balls and inauguration events in and around D.C. this weekend.)

Gavin DeGraw, whose work has straddled pop, rock and country and who is perhaps best known for hits off his album Chariot like the One Tree Hill anthem “I Don’t Want to Be,” will perform at the Starlight Ball. The Monday event will also feature remarks by President Trump. News of DeGraw’s participation was met by criticism from a portion of his fan base, so much so that his name was a trending topic on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

The Village People addressed their fans directly in revealing they would participate in the inauguration. The band, whose classic hit “Y.M.C.A.” has long been an anthem of the LGBTQ community and a favorite of Trump’s used at countless rallies and events, posted a statement Monday. “We know this won’t make some of you happy to hear, however, we believe the music is to be performed without regard to politics,” the band shared on Facebook. The group is booked for two events including the MAGA Victory Rally and the Liberty Ball. “Our song, ‘Y.M.C.A.,’ is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost.” (The mention references their support for defeated Democratic candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris.)

[From THR]

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In case you’re not well-versed in country, Jason Aldean is that guy who wrote a loving ode to small-town lynchings in 2023. Aldean previously dedicated the same song to Trump, a New Yorker. I hate to admit this, but Billy Ray and Gavin DeGraw surprised me. Billy Ray is chaotic and I’m not surprised that he’s a Republican, but I just figured that he would also not put himself out there for Trump in this way. Now, I had no idea that DeGraw has MAGA politics, but I’m not sure I’ve ever even read an interview with him, so how would I know? Anyway, these are Shaboozey and Beyonce’s country music coworkers. I hope Shaboozey never goes to a country music awards show again.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.



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