None of the jazz

The Clintons have decided to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20 but not everybody, it seems, is willing to overlook the President-elect’s fiery campaign rhetoric. Trump’s incoming administration has been unable to rope in any A-list singers for his inauguration, when the President-elect is officially sworn in amid a blaze of official festivities, in what is generally considered a high-profile, prestigious and patriotic gig.

According to Variety, apart from the relatively little-known Jackie Evancho, a 16-year-old former America’s Got Talent contestant, who will sing the Star-Spangled Banner, the US national anthem, the biggest names that have been confirmed are the Radio City Rockettes, an all-women dancing ensemble, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, both of which have performed at previous inaugurations.

And even these haven’t been without the now customary backlash against most things Trump. According to Marie Claire, dancers of colour within the Rockettes have refused to be part of the show. And Jan Chamberlin, a singer in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, has quit. “Looking from the outside in, it will appear that Choir is endorsing tyranny and facism (sic) by singing for this man,” reads her resignation letter on Facebook.

The headlines in the music industry and beyond, however, have been hogged by those refusing to perform. Among the first names to emerge as a possible Trump performer was that of Elton John. But the singer’s publicist Fran Curtis made it clear that he would not be performing. The superstar himself added his own thoughts in an interview with The Guardian: “I’m British. I’ve met Donald Trump, he was very nice to me, it’s nothing personal, his political views are his own, mine are very different, I’m not a Republican in a million years. Why not ask Ted f***ing Nugent? Or one of those f***ing country stars? They’ll do it for you.”

His British compatriot, the X-Factor’s Rebecca Ferguson, was less scathing but said she would accept the invitation on one condition: she be allowed to sing Strange Fruit, the anti-lynching anthem popularised by Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. Its controversial lyrics, by Abel Meeropol, graphically describe the then lynchings of African-Americans in parts of the US: “Southern trees bear strange fruit/ Blood on the leaves and blood at the root/ Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze/ Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.”

In a Twitter statement, Ferguson defended her choice: “If you allow me to sing Strange Fruit, a song that was blacklisted in the United States for being too controversial, a song that speaks to all the disregarded and downtrodden black people in the US… Then I will graciously accept your invitation and see you in Washington. Best Rebecca X”.

According to The Wrap, the inauguration team had its sights on Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, and Aretha Franklin. But as The Daily Beast pointed out, that is a tough ask. “It is safe to say that Perry in particular will not be singing on behalf of Trump as she was one of Hillary Clinton’s top celebrity surrogates through the election. No one should expect to see Timberlake (who hosted a Hillary fundraiser at his home) or Mars either, but don’t count out Aretha Franklin,” it said, adding that Franklin said she was considering participating.

And it seems no one is off the Trump radar. Rapper Ice T, a vocal proponent of Black Lives Matter, with even a song called Cop Killer, written as a protest against police brutality, claimed the inauguration team reached out to him. “I just got [called] to perform at the inauguration. I didn’t pick up and blocked the number,” he tweeted.

Other stars like Celine Dion and Kiss frontman Gene Simmons, who has praised Trump in the past, have cited busy schedules, while Adam Lambert, an active campaigner for LGBTQ rights, told the BBC: “I don’t think I would take money on that one. I don’t think I’d be endorsing that.”

Not all of those who declined, however, have done so out of their own will. According to The Washington Post, musician and producer David Foster, a 16-time Grammy winner, feared that participating would anger some of his other friends like Univision’s Haim Saban and Canadian businessman Frank Giustra, both big Clinton supporters and donors to his charity, the David Foster Foundation, which helps children in need of organ transplants.

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, a long-time friend of Trump and reportedly personally approached by the President-elect, had been considering attending, but backed out after taking “too much heat” on social media, including a #BoycottBocelli hashtag.

The rejections, The Wrap said, have forced the incoming Trump administration to offer up “six- to seven-figure” fees and even ambassadorships to potential inauguration performers or their representatives.

Beyoncé, by contrast, only had her travel and production costs reimbursed for performing at President Obama’s 2013 inauguration, it added. In fact the biggest controversy then was Beyonce’s alleged lip-syncing of the Star-Spangled Banner.

And when George W Bush took office, his inauguration featured Ricky Martin, who had opposed him, and Jessica Simpson.

Meanwhile, curiously absent from the debate, is the small crowd of artists who have publicly voiced support for Trump: country crooner Loretta Lynn, hip hop star Kanye West and rockers Ted Nugent and Kid Rock (who performed for Obama in 2009).

One of reasons, The Guardian reckoned, is that the stars do not want to offend their fan bases. It quoted Howard Bragman, an advisor for high-profile celebrity clients, who said: “In the past, one could say: ‘He’s the president’. In our politically charged world, performing for Trump is a political statement, and if one chooses to perform they should go in with their eyes wide open.”

In another piece, it quoted freelance music journalist Steven J Horowitz: “An artist would be risking too much. Their career, their fan base, their relationships in the music industry. As one of the most divisive president-elects in history, Trump shouldn’t be surprised that he’s facing a lack of support.”

Grammy winner John Legend echoed similar sentiments. “Creative people tend to reject bigotry and hate. We tend to be more liberal-minded. When we see somebody that’s preaching division and hate and bigotry, it’s unlikely that he’ll get a lot of creative people that want to be associated with him,” he told the BBC.

Not everyone though is approving of the boycott. “The list of A-list talent refusing to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration is a glaring reminder of how for celebrities, their preening and posturing over their high-toned moral positions supersedes their burning desire to be noticed by the public,” writes Hank Berrien in dailywire.com.

Bristol Palin, the 26-year-old daughter of the former Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, took it a step further, calling the musicians “sissies”. “Isn’t it amazing how ‘not cool’ it is to be conservative in the public eye? Either Hollywood is that far off — or we have so many sissies we have in the spotlight too scared to stand for what they believe in!” Bristol wrote in her blog, before praising Jackie Evancho — who will perform at the inauguration. “These A-listers declining the invitation has opened up a chance for someone who really needs it.”