Stars stay home as Trump parties on return to the White House


He will then make a speech in which he will promise to make America great again. Yet again. Whether he’s going to threaten to start a war with Canada or invade Greenland, we will have to wait and see.
It’s a minor miracle that The Capitol is still standing in one piece, after it was nearly razed to the ground four years ago by that thousand-strong murderous mob of Trump supporters, all armed to the teeth.
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Hide AdEvery four years the inauguration is a mixture of politics, pageantry, showbiz and spectacle. In the past many Hollywood stars and rock royalty have attended. This is less likely to be the case on Monday.
Democrat presidents tend to get cooler music acts to turn up. In 1977, Linda Ronstadt and Aretha Franklin performed at Jimmy Carter’s inauguration
Bill Clinton had Fleetwood Mac playing at his swearing-in. In fact, the band re-formed specifically for the occasion. In 2008, Barrack Obama picking up the White House keys was celebrated by a veritable rock-and-roll hall of fame – Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Mary J Blige, U2 and Aretha Franklin. Aretha just couldn’t keep away from a good inauguration. She’ll be turning in her grave on Monday.
Almost as impressive as Obama’s guest list is the number of people who turned down appearing at Trump’s first inauguration eight years ago – Elton John, Kiss, Charlotte Church, Moby and Celine Dion were all invited and declined. Even The Beach Boys refused to turn up. And they used to hang out with Charles Manson in the sixties, but did not want to be associated with the US’s 45th President. That’s quite some statement to make, implying that the guy elected to the highest office in the land is more toxic than Hollywood’s most notorious serial killer.
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Hide AdIn the run-up to November’s election, Kamala Harris was so far in front in term of showbiz backers, she looked like a shoo-in for the White House. The only music name of any note endorsing Trump was Kanye West. And we all know how mental he is. But not mental enough to sing at the inauguration.
So who will be there? Carrie Underwood and The Village People (yes really!) – not quite the same level of street cred there. Although tomorrow night there will be a Trump victory gig where the stars will include Kid Rock, best known for his appearance on The Simpsons, and Billy Ray Cyrus, best known for being Miley’s dad.
Someone else who will be appearing is soon-to-be former president Joe Biden. This is despite the fact that Trump famously refused to attend Biden’s inauguration in January 2021. This caused a deal of controversy as the outgoing commander-in-chief is traditionally present to hand over to his successor.
The only time this didn’t happened during the last century was in January 1965 for the inauguration of Lyndon B Johnson. And most people agree that John F Kennedy had a pretty watertight excuse for not turning up.
Like it or not, on Monday Trump is back. Strap in. There’s four tough years ahead.