Bruce Springsteen, U2, Beyonce - the stars are lining up for President-elect Barack Obama in more ways than one.
Two days before taking the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States, Mr. Obama joined a sea of people in a rousing, star-studded celebration staged before the Lincoln Monument.
Bruce Springsteen kicked off the We Are One event with with a mighty version of The Rising. Dressed in black and backed by a gospel choir, Springsteen performed his powerful 9/11 composition - sentiments of which now echo a new feeling of hope.
Later, The Boss was joined by legendary, 89-year-old folk singer Pete Seeger for a stirring rendition of This Land Is Your Land, the video of which you can see below.
U2 provide the perfect song
If ever a song was tailor-made for the inauguration of the first African-American president of the United States, it's U2's classic Pride (In The Name Of Love). Check out this video of U2 soundchecking the night before the big show. You can tell it's cold outside!
Beyonce brings down the house
After a day that included performances by The Boss, U2, Bon Jovi, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, will.i.am, John Mellencamp and many others, what do you do for a finale?
You bring on Beyonce, of course, for this heart-quaking reading of America The Beautiful. Enjoy!
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Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar World, Guitar Player, MusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.
"The 1700-capacity venue was only selling 300 tickets a night. This is not exactly great": Elton John’s musical closes on Broadway after just 5 days
“There is money being made and it’s just being funnelled somewhere. It needs someone to give back out to the people”: Michael Kiwanuka suggests fairer cuts for musicians from big promotions companies