Which celebrities are attending Donald Trump’s inauguration?

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5 hours ago

January 20, 2025

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Donald Trump will be sworn in as US president on 20 January in Washington DC, to being his second stint in the biggest job in politics.

A national holiday thanks to the fact it coincides with Martin Luther King Jr Day, spectators can expect an event full of pomp, pageantry and entertainment.

Back at his first inauguration in 2017, Mr Trump appeared to struggle to rustle up celebrity attendees – so who might we see turn up second time around?

Political figures and world leaders

Outgoing president Joe Biden, 82, will attend his successor’s inauguration. It was a pleasantry not performed by Mr Trump during Mr Biden’s inauguration in 2020, which Mr Trump – who claimed the election had been stolen from him – chose to skip.

It’s also traditional for all living former presidents to attend the inauguration, so Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton are all likely to attend. Former first lady, Michelle Obama, however, will not be attending.

Mr Trump has also invited world leaders this year for the first time.

Mr Trump’s new efficiency tsar and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is attending the event and reportedly will be seated alongside fellow billionaires Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has confirmed his attendance, and says he hopes to “mend any broken fences” with Mr Musk after a recent social media spat between the two.

Official acts

The Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee kept its cards close to its chest until just a few days before the inauguration.

Musical performances are a staple of the event, with a marching band, and various inauguration galas throughout the evening. Stars including Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and John Legend have been part of past shows for previous presidents.

This year’s acts have a distinctly Country flavour, with big names including Billy Ray Cyrus and Kid Rock – both of whom endorsed Mr Trump at the 2024 election.

Rock, 53, whose real name is Robert James Richie, has been a vocal supporter of the Republican Party and the president-elect for many years.

He previously sang ahead of Mr Trump’s speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention in July and joined Mr Trump’s entourage at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event in November.

Rock will join country singer Cyrus, 63, who is the father of pop star Miley Cyrus – a vocal critic of Mr Trump – at the Make America Great Again Rally at Capital One Arena in Washington on Sunday, along with a choir from Liberty University, which is a private evangelical Christian school in Virginia.

Alongside being Miley’s dad, Billy Ray is most famous for his 1990s country hit Achy Breaky Heart.

They will be joined by country singer Jason Aldean, singer and saxophonist Lee Greenwood and The Village People at The Liberty Ball on Monday night, along with a “surprise musical guest”.

Aldean, 47, is a five-time Grammy nominee and the performer of the controversial country song Try That In A Small Town, which he dedicated to Mr Trump after the attempt on his life in July.

Greenwood sang God Bless The USA at the inauguration eight years ago and was a staple at Trump campaign rallies last year. He has said he’s “excited” to sing for his “friend” Mr Trump “yet again”.

Meanwhile, country group Rascal Flatts will be at the Commander-in-Chief Ball, focused on military service members, with Texas-based singer-songwriter Parker McCollum.

Rascal Flatts frontman Gary LeVox wrote on Instagram that he was “happy and humbled and grateful for the opportunity”. LeVox played at Mr Trump’s first inauguration and promised it will be a “night to remember”, thanking South Dakota governor Kristi Noem in his post.

The Starlight Ball, which focuses on high-worth donors, will feature a performance from Gavin DeGraw, a singer-songwriter best known for the song I Don’t Want To Be, which was used as the theme song for the TV show One Tree Hill.

Previously confirmed acts include American Idol star Carrie Underwood who is arguably the biggest name on the bill.

The eight-time Grammy winner will sing America The Beautiful alongside the Armed Forces Choir and the US Naval Academy Glee Club shortly before Mr Trump takes the oath of office.

Commenting on her part in the day, Underwood said in a statement: “I love our country and am honoured to have been asked to sing at the inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event”. The 41-year-old singer has previously kept her political views private.

Classical singer Christopher Macchio will sing Oh, America! before the vice-presidential oath of office with JD Vance, and will close the ceremony with a rendition of the American National Anthem.

Victor Willis, frontman of the Village People, previously announced the band had accepted an invitation to perform at the inauguration, telling their fans in a post on Facebook: “We know this won’t make some of you happy to hear, however we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics.

“Our song Y.M.C.A. is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost,” he added.

“Therefore, we believe it’s now time to bring the country together with music, which is why Village People will be performing at various events as part of the 2025 Inauguration of Donald J Trump.”

Willis last month defended Mr Trump’s use of Y.M.C.A. at campaign rallies and denied that the song is a “gay anthem”.

The 1978 disco hit spiked in listenership in November after it secured a spot on Mr Trump’s campaign playlist, according to Sky News’ US partner, NBC News.

Who else could be there?

Actor Jon Voight, who was recently appointed as “a special envoy” to Hollywood following the California wildfires and who is a vocal supporter of Mr Trump, spoke at his last inauguration – so it seems possible we could see a repeat performance.

And singer Mary Millben sang the national anthem at both Mr Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally and the Republican National Convention back in July.

One wildcard potential guest could be Kanye West, who has been a vocal supporter of Mr Trump in the past, and who met with him in the Oval Office back in 2018.

When asked earlier this year if he would be voting Republican, West told reporters: “Yeah, of course. It’s Trump all day.”

Who performed at Trump’s last inauguration?

Classical singer Jackie Evancho, a former America’s Got Talent contestant, sang the national anthem at Mr Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, calling it a “huge honour” to perform for the president.

But the young star, who has a transgender sister, did later say she was “disappointed” by Mr Trump’s decision to roll back on transgender rights.

Meanwhile, country singer Toby Keith was arguably the biggest name on the bill the first time around. He died from stomach cancer last February.

Other acts who performed in 2017 include The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, rock band 3 Doors Down, DJ Ravidrums and musical group The Piano Guys.

Prime-time TV show?

In 2021, Joe Biden’s inauguration included a prime-time inauguration day TV programme hosted by Tom Hanks.

Celebrating America featured performances from acts including Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake.

It’s not known if a similar programme will be aired following Mr Trump’s inauguration this year.

Entertainment

Director Claire van Kampen dies on husband Mark Rylance’s birthday

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2 days ago

January 18, 2025

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Director Claire van Kampen has died, aged 71, on the 65th birthday of her husband, Sir Mark Rylance.

Entertainment

Cameron Diaz says retirement from acting was ‘best 10 years of my life’

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2 days ago

January 18, 2025

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Cameron Diaz says retirement from acting was 'best 10 years of my life'

Cameron Diaz has said her decade-long retirement from acting was “the best 10 years of my life”.

The actress, 52, has partnered with Jamie Foxx for the Netflix blockbuster Back In Action, marking her first role since playing Miss Hannigan in the 2014 remake of Annie.

Speaking on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show alongside Foxx, Diaz said of her temporary retirement: “Oh my God, I loved it. It was the best 10 years of my life.”

She said she was “just free” to be a mum, a wife and to live her life somewhat privately.

“It was so lovely,” she added, saying that her eventual return to acting “made sense for my family” as they wanted to “switch it up a little bit”.

The Hollywood star, whose acting debut came in 1994 hit comedy The Mask, said she had turned down roles for years during her retirement until people “stopped asking” – but added she didn’t want to turn down the role alongside Foxx.

“If I’m going to leave my family for 10 hours a day – I want to do it with… the most talented man in entertainment,” she said of Foxx, 57, who she also co-starred alongside in Annie.

The Holiday star added: “It’s just a privilege to do this. I thought to myself, if I just like, let this go away, all of this goodwill that I got to build over so much time, the passion that I have for entertaining people and making movies that make people smile and laugh and have a good time… if I don’t engage in that again… then I would be a fool.”

Diaz, who had her second child with husband Benji Madden in March last year, told Norton she was back for “at least” this film, later adding: “This is maybe the beginning, maybe I’ll tiptoe in, maybe I’ll just go like gung ho! I don’t know.”

She has also filmed the upcoming Apple TV+ black comedy Outcome alongside Keanu Reeves and Jonah Hill.

Entertainment

Martin Clunes on nepotism in the arts: ‘If you’re s*** you won’t get the gig. You’ve got to punch your weight’

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2 days ago

January 18, 2025

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Martin Clunes on nepotism in the arts: 'If you're s*** you won't get the gig. You've got to punch your weight'

Martin Clunes says the entertainment industry is “too on-show to carry a dolt”, and the children of successful actors don’t get work just because of who their parents are.

The 63-year-old actor is currently starring in county lines drama Out There opposite Louis Ashbourne Serkis, which sees a single-parent farmer and his teenage son tangle with drug-dealing gangs in Monmouthshire.

Serkis is the son of Lord Of The Rings actor Andy Serkis and Sherwood star Lorraine Ashbourne, and starred in his first TV show, Inspector Morse prequel Endeavour, when he was just 10.

Clunes tells Sky News: “I was involved in [Serkis’s] casting, so it was just like, ‘Oh, this is Andy and Lorraine’s boy. Oh, that’s interesting. If he’s s***, he won’t get the… Sorry, if he’s no good, he won’t get the gig’.

“You’ve got to punch your weight, cos that’s how it works, I think the industry is too on-show to carry a dolt. If someone was awful at it and they just got the gig because of whose child they were, it would really show, and you’d mess your project up.”

The six-part drama is produced by Clunes’s wife Philippa Braithwaite, who also produced long-running ITV comedy-drama Doc Martin in which Clunes also starred.

Clunes goes on: “I think it’s just a point of interest – maybe you get a second look, or somebody is curious, or somebody knows them. But I don’t remember ever having met Andy and Lorraine before doing this [show].”

Clunes’s own father was golden age star Alec Clunes, who sadly died when Clunes was just eight. His maternal uncle was Sherlock Holmes actor Jeremy Brett, and his grandparents were music hall entertainers.

‘The Year of the Nepo Baby’

New York Magazine called 2022 “The Year of the Nepo Baby” highlighting the number of famous “actors, singers, directors who just happen to be the children of actors, singers, directors”.

And earlier this year, Spice Girl Mel B’s daughter Phoenix Brown said nepo babies had never faced so much hate, particularly on social media.

The 25-year-old DJ and entrepreneur asked whether “nepo babies [were] taking the flak for wider inequality in society?” in a piece she wrote for the Radio Times earlier this year.

A nepo baby, short for nepotism baby, is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a person who gains success or opportunities through familial connections”.

Serkis too says he thinks there are misconceptions over perceived nepotism in the industry.

‘It’s a tough industry’

The 20-year-old actor tells Sky News: “If you hear a surname, you always think of an association, but growing up and acting, it’s never really been about that. It’s been about attacking the role that I’ve worked hard to get or that I’ve been lucky enough to audition for.

“I think when a casting director hears [your name], it’s nothing more than a surname. And the way that we look at it is that it can only get you so far because it’s a tough industry. It’s competitive. And roles aren’t just handed out based on who your father is or who your mother is. I think it’s kind of slightly misconceived.”

Serkis calls his working relationship with Clunes “a beautiful partnership”, while Clunes says that through “the shared trauma of the series” the characters get thrown closer together “jumpstarting the father-son thing”.

‘It ain’t Doc Martin’

The ITV drama marks Clunes’s first return to the screen after wrapping Doc Martin in 2022.

When asked if this role is “against type”, the BAFTA-winning actor insists, “I don’t know what my type is”, before conceding, “Certainly it ain’t Doc Martin”.

“Doing one thing for 18 years, you kind of get that watermarked through you a bit,” he adds.

The farming role has parallels with Clunes’s own life, who after moving out of London over a decade ago, lives on a 130-acre farm in Dorset which produces hay and haylage for equestrian use.

He can even drive a tractor and a digger, skills he puts to good use in the first episode of the drama. Serkis, meanwhile, who says he’s “grown up and lived in the city all my life”, got to learn to drive a tractor for the show.

The next Jeremy Clarkson?

While farming has been a hot topic in recent weeks, due to Labour’s rulings on farmland inheritance tax in the Autumn Budget, Out There was filmed in Wales over a year ago.

Clunes says: “Farming was there and it was in trouble while we were making this. It’s just got a magnifying glass over it at the moment… It’s been struggling for a long time.”

A man of many talents, Clunes jokes that his CV boasts “sword fighting and lambing”, adding “and I know how to get a dripper into a sheep’s mouth”.

But despite his farming ability, Clunes says he has no aspirations to become a celebrity mouthpiece for the farming community.

While fellow celebrity Jeremy Clarkson, who owns Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds, has been vocal on the issue, Clunes has no ambition to get involved.

Asked if he too might join marches, or speak for the cause, Clunes is resolute: “No.”

When pushed, he says: “I have my opinions on it, but I’m not at the forefront of anything.”

While a reality series of Clunes’s Farm isn’t likely any time soon, Out There begins on ITV on Sunday at 9pm.