- Nelly, the Village People and Carrie Underwood are among the acts set to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
- All have faced backlash from fans.
- All three have responded to criticism for accepting Trump’s invitation to perform.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House is putting some pop stars in a tricky position: performing for him while appeasing their fans.
Some of the acts performed at the events surrounding his inauguration are completely in line with MAGA, as are their fans.
However, a minority are in a less comfortable place – and have issued public statements seeking to explain their position.
Carrie Underwood, the Village People and Nelly have released statements defending their decision to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration, saying it should not be mistaken for an endorsement.
Carrie Underwood said she was ‘honoured’ that Trump’s team asked her to perform
Underwood, who told The Guardian in 2019 that she tried to “stay out of politics if possible,” was among the first performers announced for Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
Underwood told Business Insider through a representative on Tuesday, “I love our country and am honored to be asked to sing at the Inauguration and be a small part of this historic event. I am humbled to answer the call to a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking towards the future”.
During a 50-minute live chat with rapper and YouTuber Willie D about performing at the inauguration, Nelly compared his decision to someone in the military serving a president they didn’t support.
He will appear at the Liberty Ball on Monday.
“I’m not doing this for money. I’m doing this because it’s an honor,” he said. “I respect the office. It doesn’t matter who is in office, just like our men and women, our brothers and sisters who defend this country, have to go to war and have to put their lives on the line for whoever is in office.” .
It’s unclear what, if anything, acts are paid to perform at such events.
Inaugurations are expensive, with Trump’s 2017 committee raising an unprecedented $107 million. Erik Smith, the creative director for Barack Obama’s 2009 and 2013 inaugurations, told Billboard in 2021 that artists were not paid when he was on the committee.
“You get a hotel room and two tickets,” he said.
Nelly argued that the performance was not a political act because Trump won the election and was no longer campaigning.
“Performing for someone and voting for someone are two different things,” he said. “Supporting people is two different things.”
Villagers said rejecting Trump’s invitation would not help the group
Village people in 2018. Andrew Chin/Getty Images
Villagers, whose YMCA has been an indelible part of Trump’s campaign rallies for years, are also on the bill.
They’ve had a rocky relationship with Trump’s enthusiasm for their music, extending to an (unsuccessful) cease-and-desist letter in 2023.
Then came a round-face. In December 2024, Victor Willis, the song’s author, said in a Facebook post that he let Trump use “YMCA” because Trump was a fan.
After being confirmed as a performer for the inauguration, the Village People wrote on Facebook on January 13: “Our song YMCA is a global anthem that we hope will help unite the country after a tumultuous and divisive campaign where our favorite candidate lost. “
On Thursday, Willis wrote on Facebook that the performance was not an endorsement and that the band supported Kamala Harris.
“If our favorite candidate (Kamala Harris) had won, the Village People would never have been invited to perform at her inauguration. She would have chosen the likes of John Legend and Beyonce, etc,” he wrote.
“But now that President Trump has been elected, the country people are supposed to draw the line and say no to an invitation to perform? How does it benefit the country people? No. It’s just hateful from a political perspective,” he added.
Critics have argued that it is difficult for rural people, widely associated with LGBTQ+ culture, to perform for a politician who is open about his goals to remove trans rights and who has been accused of weakening protections for LGBTQ+ people in his first term.
In December, Willis wrote on Facebook that “YMCA” wasn’t a gay anthem after all — just a song about the Young Men’s Christian Association, as the title and lyrics say.
On Thursday, Willis said Trump helped get “YMCA” back on the Billboard charts and that the LGBTQ+ and African-American communities had done little to push the group recently.
