Wearing a navy Schiaparelli fitted jacket featuring a symbolic golden pin of a dove carrying an olive branch and red silk ballgown,Lady Gagadisplayed her vocal talents and shared a message of peace in front of incoming PresidentJoe Bidenand Vice PresidentKamala Harris, as well as millions who watched the historic inauguration ceremony.
“Singing our National Anthem for the American People is my honor. I will sing during a ceremony, a transition, a moment of change — between POTUS 45 and 46. For me, this has great meaning,” she tweeted minutes ahead of her performance.
“My intention is to acknowledge our past, be healing for our present, and passionate for a future where we work together lovingly,” she added. “I will sing to the hearts of all people who live on this land. Respectfully and kindly,Lady Gaga.”
Lady Gaga.Rob Carr/Getty
Hall is also the President of the International Association of Firefighters Local 3920 and a career firefighter with 28 years of dedicated service.
As she walked off the West front of the Capitol building, Gaga was captured greeting and embracing former PresidentBarack Obama. Obama and Gaga crossed paths during his first term as re-election campaign in 2011, when she advocated for anti-bullying.
Lady Gaga and Barack Obama.Alex Wong/Getty
The 11-time Grammy winner is no stranger to performing the national anthem: She was revered forher renditionprior to the kick-off of Super Bowl 50 in 2016 when the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers.
On Wednesday, Gaga will be among the few to take part in Biden’s swearing-in ceremony in person. In addition to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic restricting attendance, heightened security concerns following the Jan. 6 riots on the Capitol prevented the public from congregating in Washington D.C.
Jennifer LopezandGarth Brookswill also perform at the inauguration.
Gaga and Lopez, 51, were both vocal advocates of the Biden-Harris ticket, with Gaga hitting the campaign trail and performing “Shallow” and “You and I” at Biden’s final rally in Pittsburgh on the eve of the 2020 presidential election. Lopez and her fiancé Alex Rodriguez endorsed Biden during a virtual chat in October 2020.
“I pray tomorrow will be a day of peace for all Americans. A day for love, not hatred. A day for acceptance not fear,” wrote Gaga on Instagram the day before inauguration. “A day for dreaming of our future joy as a country. A dream that is non-violent, a dream that provides safety for our souls. Love, from the Capitol 🇺🇸.”
President Joe Biden and Lady Gaga.Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Brooks, 58, added, “I’ve played for every president there is, since Carter, with the exception of Reagan. So I’ve got to sit and have an audience with these people, including President Trump as well. This is an honor for me to get to serve. I got to serve the Clinton Administration with the Concert of the Century, the Bush Administration with Points of Light … it’s one of the things that, if my family is around, no matter who the president-elect is, it’s an honor to be asked.”
In the announcement of Inauguration Day performers, Tony Allen, the head of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, said: “They represent one clear picture of the grand diversity of our great nation and will help honor and celebrate the time-honored 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 U.S. Capitol.”
Biden will be the oldest person sworn in as president and the second Catholic to hold the office. Meanwhile, Harris will be the first woman, first Black person and first person of Indian descent to be elected as vice president.
source: people.com
