Bruce Springsteen and John Legend to perform on TV special Celebrating America

Bruce Springsteen and John Legend are the latest stars set to perform on TV special, Celebrating America, to commemorate the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20.

The New York Times reports that the Dancing In The Dark singer, 71, and All Of Me hitmaker, 42, will join Foo Fighters during the prime-time special.

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria and Little Fires Everywhere actress Kerry Washington will also be involved in the 90-minute show hosted by Tom Hanks.

Other stars included in the line-up are Demi Lovato, Jon Bon Jovi and Justin Timberlake.   

Elsewhere, Fall Out Boy is slated to play on We The People, a pre-inauguration concert as his parents met working for the future president. 

After Biden beat Donald Trump in November, Wentz posted a throwback shot of himself as a child being held by Biden next to his mother, Dale Lewis Wentz.

‘My parents met working for Joe Biden in the Senate in the 70s,’ he penned. ‘To me he is a beacon of empathy, compassion, and kindness.’ 

It comes after it was revealed that Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez will perform at the inauguration of President-elect Biden on January 20.

Variety reports The Bad Romance hitmaker, 34, will perform national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, for the swearing-in ceremony of Biden and Vice-President elect Kamala Harris, which will be held on the West front of the U.S. Capitol building.

On The Floor singer Jennifer, 51, is also on-board to perform – before the TV special airs which also features Lovato and Timberlake.

Oscar-winner Gaga is a long-time supporter of Biden and has been vocal throughout this election season, joining the future president on the campaign trail.

She also filmed a controversial campaign video for Biden back in November which showed her wielding a can of beer and rocking a camouflage get-up as she preached to the election’s vital swing states. 

Also joining Gaga and Jennifer at the ceremony will be firefighter Andrea Hall who will lead in the Pledge of Allegiance and first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman who will recite a poem.  

The invocation will be delivered by Father Leo O’Donovan and the benediction by Reverend Dr. Silvester Beaman – both of whom are longtime friends of the Biden family. 

Next Wednesday’s inauguration will largely be conducted virtually in keeping with safety protocols amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Security has also been ramped up amid fears of violence on the day, after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol last week.

Tony Allen, CEO of the Presidential Inauguration Committee, told Variety: ‘Our first priority is safety – so while many of us will be watching safely from our homes, we are creating real moments of connection that highlight a new inclusive American era of leadership that works for and represents all Americans.’  

Tom Hanks will host the primetime TV special to commemorate Joe Biden‘s inauguration later that day.

The special, titled ‘Celebrating America’, will air on the evening of January 20, just hours after Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States.   

The 90-minute extravaganza will additionally feature musical performances by Demi Lovato, Jon Bon Jovi and Justin Timberlake.   

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are also set to make a special appearance on screen, according to Variety.

On Wednesday, Timberlake announced on Instagram that he and Ant Clemons have co-written a song for the special, titled Better Days.  

‘I actually recorded my final vocals for this song on election night…,’ he revealed alongside a montage of footage from the recording studio.

‘I’m very honoured to announce we will be performing this song on January 20th for the Presidential Inauguration,’ added Timberlake.

‘We have a long way to go to fix, undo, and rebuild this country… but I hope now, despite the past four years, we are on our way.’

Frontline workers and groundbreaking Americans will be among the people emphasised by the celebratory TV special.

Americans’ ability to endure the adversity of the recent national crises will also be a focus as will the endurance of democracy in the country. 

The special will run an hour and a half from 8:30pm to 10:00pm on both coasts on Inauguration Day. 

ABC, NBC and CBS will carry the special on network television while MSNBC and CNN will air it for cable viewers.   

YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Facebook, Twitter and Twitch are among the streaming services that will run the special live.

The Fox streamer NewsNow will run the special, as well DirecTV and U-verse from AT&T and the service Microsoft Bing.

Allen declared: ‘This inauguration presents a unique opportunity to spotlight the resilience and spirit of an America United.’ 

He added in a statement: ‘We have witnessed countless heroes this past year step up to the frontlines and serve their fellow Americans, so we are telling their stories, spreading their collective light, and celebrating the best of our country and its people with this prime-time program.’   

Speaking at the Democratic hopeful’s Pennsylvania rally in November, Gaga said: ‘I put some country clothes on the other day and said I was voting for Joe because I wear Cabela’s when I’m on a four-wheeler in Pennsylvania.’ 

She added that regardless of the opinions held by the opposing part, she ‘will not be told what I can and cannot wear to endorse our future president.’

‘So this is what I have to say about that… I may not always look like you. But I am you. We are each other,’ concluded the blonde bombshell, who went on to perform her 2011 hit You And I.

After Biden won the election, she tweeted: ‘Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and the American people, you just gave the world one of the greatest acts of kindness and bravery humanity has ever seen…

‘Nothing but love for our new Commander in Chief and the 1ST female VP elected to the White House. Also, way to go PA.’ 

The Secret Service,  the FBI and the National Guard are among 50 agencies and private companies that have formed a ‘Multi-Agency Command Center’ (MACC) to fortify Washington, D.C. ahead of next week’s inauguration.

The task force met for the first time on Wednesday at the Secret Service’s Washington field office where hundreds of people will work in 12-hour shifts to protect the city amid three new violent threats against the Capitol, which was attacked by a mob of MAGA supporters last week.  

Up to 15,000 National Guard members will also be on hand to protect D.C.   

At least 10,000 of those troops will be in place by Saturday with the remaining 5,000 on standby. 

Fences have been erected outside the Capitol Building, The White House and the Supreme Court, while road closures in the are have now gone into effect. 

The beefed-up security measures come as authorities revealed three separate plots to attack the Capitol ahead of the inauguration, including one described as the ‘largest armed protest in American history.’