Village People, Carrie Underwood to Perform at Trump Inauguration

Carrie Underwood performs at Times Square on New Year's Eve in New York City, US, December 31, 2024. (Reuters)
Carrie Underwood performs at Times Square on New Year's Eve in New York City, US, December 31, 2024. (Reuters)
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Village People, Carrie Underwood to Perform at Trump Inauguration

Carrie Underwood performs at Times Square on New Year's Eve in New York City, US, December 31, 2024. (Reuters)
Carrie Underwood performs at Times Square on New Year's Eve in New York City, US, December 31, 2024. (Reuters)

The Village People -- the group behind "Y.M.C.A," a staple of Donald Trump's rallies -- said Monday they have accepted an invitation from the president-elect to perform at events connected to next week's inauguration.

Singer Victor Willis said in a statement on Facebook the Village People would "participate in inaugural activities, including at least one event with President Elect Trump."

"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," Willis continued.

"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.

"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."

Trump's campaigns have frequently played the 1970s-era hit at rallies during his multiple bids for office, with the Republican often dancing onstage to it.

Also on Monday, famed country singer Carrie Underwood said she had accepted an invitation to perform during the inauguration slated for January 20.

"I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event," Underwood said in a statement.

"I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future."

The 41-year-old is scheduled to sing "America the Beautiful," according to a schedule released by the Trump team.

Historically the president-elect has had a rocky relationship with most figures in the entertainment world, many of whom have admonished him for playing their music at his rallies -- including, at times, the Village People.

During his first term several artists threatened to boycott their own induction ceremonies into the prestigious Kennedy Center pantheon if Trump attended those gala -- which he ultimately never did.



'Wicked' Tops SAG Awards Nominations Where Many Big-Names Are Shut out

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)
This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)
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'Wicked' Tops SAG Awards Nominations Where Many Big-Names Are Shut out

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)
This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande in a scene from the film "Wicked." (Universal Pictures via AP)

"Wicked" topped nominations to the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on Wednesday, landing a leading five nominations including best ensemble, and individual nods for Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey.

Out-of-control wildfires that swept across Los Angeles and Southern California on Tuesday night forced the Screen Actors Guild to cancel its plans to announce the nominations live Wednesday morning. The nominations were instead issued by press release by SAG, which last year began a multiyear deal with Netflix to stream the awards.

The smash hit musical "Wicked" saw its Oscar chances rise in the SAG nominations, which came the morning after the film was celebrated by the National Board of Review Awards in New York. "Wicked" even scored a nod for best stunt ensemble.

The other nominees for best ensemble are: "Anora,Conclave,Emilia Pérez" and "A Complete Unknown."

It was an especially strong showing for the Bob Dylan drama "A Complete Unknown." It came away with four nominations, including Timothée Chalamet for best male actor, and supporting nods for both Edward Norton and Monica Barbaro.

The best male lead nominees were largely as expected: Adrien Brody ("The Brutalist"), Daniel Craig ("Queer"), Colman Domingo ("Sing Sing"), Ralph Fiennes ("Conclave") and Chalamet.

Coming off her rousing victory at the Golden Globes, Demi Moore was among the nominees for best female actor in a leading role for "The Substance." She was joined by Erivo, "Emilia Perez" breakout Karla Sofía Gascón, Mikey Madison of "Anora" and Pamela Anderson for "The Last Showgirl."

That surprisingly left out some big names. Angelina Jolie ("Maria") missed out, as did Nicole Kidman ("Babygirl"). A few of the most acclaimed actresses of the year, Marianne Jean-Baptiste ("Hard Truths") and Globe-winner Fernanda Torres ("I’m Still Here"), also were overlooked.

"The Last Showgirl" had more to celebrate, too, with an unexpected nomination for Jamie Lee Curtis in supporting female actor. Her fellow nominees are: Barbaro, Grande, Danielle Deadwyler ("The Piano Lesson") and Zoe Saldana ("Emilia Perez").

Jeremy Strong was nominated for his supporting performance as Roy Cohn in the Donald Trump film "The Apprentice," but his co-star, Sebastian Stan, went unnominated for both "The Apprentice" and "A Different Man." The other nominees for best supporting male actor were: Bailey, Norton, Yura Borisov ("Anora") and the category frontrunner, Kieran Culkin ("A Real Pain").

A few widely forecast supporting performance were snubbed there, too, including Denzel Washington ("Gladiator II") and Guy Pearce ("The Brutalist").

The SAG Awards are among the most closely watched Oscar bellwethers. Their picks don’t always align exactly with those of the film academy, but they often do.

The last three best ensemble winners — "Oppenheimer,Everything Everywhere All at Once,CODA" — all went on to win best picture at the Academy Awards. All but one of the SAG acting winners of the last three years has also won at the Oscars. The sole exception was Lily Gladstone, who won SAG’s award for female actor last year for "Killers of the Flower Moon," but the Oscar trophy went to Emma Stone ("Poor Things") at the Oscars.

While some overlooked performances might still land an Oscar nomination, any eventual Academy Award winner, including the best picture recipient, is almost surely coming from those nominated Wednesday. That's bad news for "The Brutalist," which triumphed at the Globes but missed out on a SAG ensemble nomination.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards will be held Feb. 23 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The ceremony, to be hosted by Kristen Bell. will be streamed live on Netflix. In addition to the competitive awards, Jane Fonda will be presented with the guild’s Life Achievement Award.