All the Artists Performing at Presidential Primary Rallies, From Jack White to TLC (Updating)
The Democratic primaries and caucuses are well underway, and the candidates aren't playing around when it comes to their political rallies.
The Democratic primaries and caucuses are well underway, and the candidates aren’t playing around when it comes to their political rallies.
In hopes of raising support and awareness, a number of the presidential hopefuls for the 2020 election have been calling on some big-name musicians to perform at their rallies, including The Strokes, TLC, Jack White and more.
See below for a roundup of your favorite musicians performing and supporting at political rallies.
Portugal. The Man
The rock group is really feeling the Bern. Portugal. The Man formally endorsed Bernie Sanders before performing “Feel It Still” at his rally in Ames, Iowa, ahead of the disastrous first caucus. A month later, they joined the candidate again in Tacoma, Wash., to perform “Live in the Moment” and “Feel It Still.”
Jack White
The rocker shouted out his candidate of choice, Bernie Sanders, at a rally in his hometown of Detroit back in October. Jack White admitted at the event that he had “never done a political rally before” and was not particularly affiliated but believes that “Bernie Sanders is telling the truth, and I really do trust him.”
He performed a number of White Stripes songs and a version of Bob Dylan’s’ “License to Kill,” changing one of the lines to “Who’s gonna take away Trump’s license to kill?”
TLC
The group didn’t want no scrub as president, so they performed at Tom Steyer’s “Battle Ready” rally in Las Vegas ahead of the Nevada caucus. TLC was the environmentalist’s first major headliner at one of his rallies.
Happy birthday to me, here’s “No Scrubs” pic.twitter.com/mRWBLLu0Ds
— Ben Pu (@BenPu_nbc) February 22, 2020
Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo
The Weezer frontman took the stage at Andrew Yang’s Yangapalooza rally at the Brenton Skating Park in Des Moines, Iowa, in November.
.@RiversCuomo has started playing at Yangapalooza pic.twitter.com/AhEAG5IkrO
— Gage Miskimen (@GageMiskimen) November 1, 2019
The Strokes
The Strokes performed “Hard to Explain,” “You Only Live Once” and “Someday” at Sanders’ New Hampshire rally (with frontman Julian Casablancas decked out in a cartoonish suit). They also announced onstage that they’ll be releasing a new album on April 10.
Vampire Weekend & Bon Iver
Vampire Weekend and Bon Iver teamed up to play at the Bernie Caucus Concerts in Iowa. Bon Iver took the stage at the Horizon Events Center on Jan. 31, followed by a VW acoustic set the next day at the U.S. Cellular Center.
Most notably, Vampire Weekend called the candidate up onstage to sing “This Land Is Your Land” together.
Mandy Moore
The This Is Us star appeared at an Iowa State University town hall in January, where she officially endorsed Pete Buttigieg. Though she didn’t perform at the event, Moore took to Instagram to commemorate the day. “I don’t usually get involved in politics, but @pete.buttigieg is just so darn brilliant and inspiring—he’s the person America needs as president right now,” she wrote.
Childish Gambino
Atlanta creator and star Donald Glover, also known by his rapper alter ego Childish Gambino, and Andrew Yang teamed up to host a Los Angeles event in December, and it was soon announced that the star was an official creative consultant for the now-shuttered Yang campaign. The rally featured merch designed by Glover’s team, including sweatshirts, hats and posters.
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Had a blast with Donald Glover today! Big thanks to everyone who came out in L.A.! #YangGang
Ben Harper
Ben Harper showed his support for Pete Buttigieg as the musical guest at the Iowa Democrats’ Liberty and Justice Celebration in November. He performed “With My Own Two Hands,” “Call It What It Is” and “People Lead,” the last of which he tweaked the lyrics to sing “When Pete takes the lead.”
Public Enemy
Public Enemy performed at Sanders’ Los Angeles rally on March 1, ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries. On the morning of the event, the group issued a statement to announce they will be “moving forward” without their hype man, Flavor Flav. “We thank him for his years of service and wish him well.” Though Chuck D endorsed Sanders, Flav did not and accused Vermont senator of misappropriating his likeness and promoting “a false narrative” that the entire group endorsed his campaign.
Béla Fleck
Béla Fleck took the stage at two of Sanders’ Massachusetts rallies, on Feb. 28 and 29 in Springfield and Boston, respectively.