Lady Gaga Will Sing The National Anthem At Joe Biden’s Inauguration
Lady Gaga was a key surrogate in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ campaign for the White House, first hinting at her allegiance in a pro-voting PSA and then appearing at Biden’s rally in Pittsburgh the night before Election Day. Now she’ll participate in the pageantry as Biden and Harris are sworn into office. As Variety reports, Gaga will sing “The Star Spangled Banner” to kick off the swearing-in ceremony Jan. 20 on the West front of the US Capitol.
The event is expected to begin at 11:30AM ET. Jennifer Lopez will perform at the event, as will other artists yet to be announced. Firefighter Andrea Hall will lead in the Pledge of Allegiance. Amanda Gorman, the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate, will recite a poem. Father Leo O’Donovan and Reverend Dr. Silvester Beaman, both longtime friends of the Biden family, will give the invocation and benediction respectively.
A virtual parade is also planned due to the pandemic, and a primetime network special hosted by Tom Hanks will air that night. ABC, CBS, and NBC are all planning to air the special, but FOX will not — supposedly because doing so would involve preempting The Masked Dancer, though you can draw your own conclusions.