WASHINGTON—It was a star-studded afternoon on the national mall Sunday. Celebrities, musicians, and the man set to take the oath of office on Tuesday gathered with a crowd of hundreds of thousands at the Lincoln Memorial for the “We are One: Opening Inaugural Celebration.”
Bruce Springsteen opened the day’s festivities backed by a choir in bright red robes with “The Rising,” and the cold audience knew that their long wait was going to be worth it.
Springsteen was followed by a host of other performers including Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Jon Bon Jovi, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Bettye LaVette, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Usher, Shakira, James Taylor, will.i.am, U2, Stevie Wonder, and others.
In between musical performances celebrities read inspirational quotes from Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others to the endless expanse of people.
Celebrity readers included Jack Black, Steve Carrell, Rosario Dawson, Jaimie Foxx, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah, Laura Linney, Denzel Washington, Tiger Woods, and others.
The mood was overwhelmingly celebratory. The music selections were almost all classics that the audience could sing along with, and many of the performances were by combinations of artists unlikely to perform together.
Usher and Shakira joined Stevie Wonder for a rendition of his classic “Higher Ground,” and Jon Bon Jovi sang the seminal civil rights anthem “A Change is Gonna Come” with soul singer Bettye LaVette.
President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden enjoyed front row seats, of course, along with their families for the two-hour event. Each made brief remarks near the end of the show.
Biden spoke of the dignity of the American work force, saying “We owe them the chance to go to work each day knowing they have the thanks of a grateful nation.”
Obama, in keeping with the themes of the day, referenced the words and deeds of the president whose memorial stood behind him as well as the memory of the civil rights leader who stood in that very same spot in 1963 and proclaimed “I have a dream.”
