Politics
Moby, Charlotte Church Turn Down Inauguration Gigs
Charlotte Church and Moby
The artists, who have both spoken out against Trump, join several others who've nixed performing for him.
January 10 2017 12:37 AM EST
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The artists, who have both spoken out against Trump, join several others who've nixed performing for him.
A diverse couple of artists have become the latest to turn down invitations to perform at Donald Trump's inauguration as president: Moby and Charlotte Church.
Techno musician and DJ Moby, a gay-friendly liberal who supported Hillary Clinton for president and called Trump "an actual sociopath and on the spectrum pretty close to being a psychopath," would seem to be an unlikely choice. But he posted on Instagram Monday that a booking agent had approached him about being a DJ for one of the inaugural balls. Moby found the whole thing laughable, but said he would play under one condition.
Moby, at Billboard's request, then put together an inaugural ball playlist that includes Green Day's "American Idiot," Public Enemy's "Fight the Power," Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name," Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," and other songs he would use to make a point against Trump. British singer Rebecca Ferguson has said she would perform at the inauguration if she could sing "Strange Fruit," which deals with lynching.
Church, a classical singer turned pop-music artist, joined Moby in turning down an inaugural gig, and she "was even more succinct" in an emoji-laden tweet, The Washington Post notes.
\u201c@realDonaldTrump Your staff have asked me to sing at your inauguration, a simple Internet search would show I think you're a tyrant. Bye\ud83d\udca9\ud83d\udca9\ud83d\udca9\ud83d\udca9\u201d— Charlotte Church (@Charlotte Church) 1484044104
So far, the inauguration performers include the Rockettes, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, America's Got Talent runner-up Jackie Evancho, Cowboy Troy, and Big & Rich. Andrea Bocelli canceled on performing after public outcry, and several other well-known musicians, such as Elton John and members of Kiss, have said they will not appear.
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