Toby Keith Defends Choice to Perform at Trump Inauguration

Country singer Toby Keith on the sideline before an NFL football game between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears in Detroit, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. Authorities say a man attending a Keith concert in New Jersey climbed a fence into a nearby housing complex, waved a Confederate flag and shouted racial slurs at residents. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

Toby Keith has announced that he’s going to perform at President-elect Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day after several singers have pulled out.

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, Paul Anka, and Jennifer Holliday said they were forced to pull out for various reasons.

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Keith has received some criticism online for performing for Trump on Jan. 20, but he has a different reason.

“I don’t apologize for performing for our country or military,” Keith said in a statement, according to EW. “I performed at events for previous presidents [George W.] Bush and [Barack] Obama and over 200 shows in Iraq and Afghanistan for the USO.”

3 Doors Down, Lee Greenwood, The Piano Guys, and the Frontmen of Country will also perform. The Rockettes, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and pop-classical singer Jackie Evancho will also perform.

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There has been speculation that artists Garth Brooks, KISS, Kanye West, Marie Osmond, as well as R. Kelly would perform, but they’re not scheduled.