Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez to headline Biden inauguration

Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Amanda Gorman will perform at the swearing in ceremony of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, the Presidential Inauguration Committee announced on Thursday.

Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Biden along with Kamala D Harris will be sworn in as president and vice president of the United States on the West front of the US Capitol next Wednesday.

According to the line-up announced by Presidential Inauguration Committee, Invocation would be by Father Leo J O'Donovan, a Jesuit Catholic priest who was Georgetown University president from 1989 to 2001.

Pledge of Allegiance by Andrea Hall, president of International Association of Firefighters Local 3920.

She's been a firefighter for more than 20 years in Georgia, and was the department's first African American woman to be promoted to captain.

National Anthem would be sung by Lady Gaga, one-of-a kind artist, performer and a trailblazer in beauty and fashion.   She is also an outspoken activist, philanthropist and supporter of many important issues including mental health, LGBTQ+ rights, HIV/AIDS awareness and body image issues.

During the Obama-Biden Administration, she worked closely with President-elect Biden's ‘It's On Us’ campaign to address sexual assault on college campuses.

Poetry Reading would be by Amanda Gorman. She made history in 2017 by being named the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate in the United States by UrbanWord and the Library of Congress.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, she graduated cum laude from Harvard with a degree in Sociology.

The Musical Performance would be by Jennifer Lopez considered to be one of the most influential Latin artists in the country. She is an award-winning actress, singer, dancer, producer, and businesswoman hailing originally from New York City.

Lopez and her partner Alex Rodriguez have been outspoken about the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on Latinos and the need to contain the virus, rebuild the economy, and unify the country.

Benediction would be by Reverend Dr Silvester Beaman, the Pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington, Delaware. 

Reverend Beaman has known the Biden family for nearly 30 years and is a close confidante and friend of the President-Elect. 

He was also a consistent ally and community partner of his son, Beau, a decorated officer in the Delaware National Guard and Delaware's former Attorney General.

“They represent one clear picture of the grand diversity of our great nation and will help honour and celebrate the time-honoured traditions of the presidential inauguration as President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris take the oath of office on the West Front of the US Capitol,” said PIC CEO Tony Allen. 

“They are also committed to the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect's steadfast vision of a new chapter in our American story in which we are an America united in overcoming the deep divisions and challenges facing our people, unifying the country, and restoring the soul of our nation,” he said.

Over the course of five days of programming, ‘America United’ activities will honour inaugural traditions while safely allowing more Americans than ever before to participate from their own homes, the Presidential Inauguration Committee said.

These activities include, United We Serve, a National Day of Service on January 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day; a nationwide COVID-19 Memorial to Lives Lost on January 19; and the official Inaugural Ceremonies, a wreath laying on Arlington National Cemetery, and a Parade Across America, and a Celebrating America primetime program on January 20.              

The PIC will also install an extensive public art display -- a Field of Flags, which will cover the National Mall up to 13th Street -- to represent the American people who are unable to travel to Washington, DC.