Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Sheila E were among the performers at last night’s (August 21) Democratic National Convention (DNC). Check out the footage below.
The DNC’s third night took place in Chicago, Illinois and continued a streak of musical guests. The first day (August 19) included performances from Jason Isbell and Mickey Guyton, though a planned performance from James Taylor was cut due to time constraints.
Day 2 saw Lil Jon surprise the crowd with a lively rendition of his 2013 single with DJ Snake ‘Turn Down for What’ ‘during Georgia’s roll call.
Yesterday was no exception, with Wonder taking to the stage to show support for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. “We must keep on keeping on until we are truly a united people of these United States and then we will reach a higher ground,” Wonder told the crowd in a speech before performing his song, ‘Higher Ground’.
Later, Legend was joined on stage by Sheila E to pay tribute to Prince via a performance of the late singer’s 1984 hit ‘Let’s Go Crazy’. The cover was a homage to Prince’s home state of Minnesota — the state where Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Walz’ serves as governor — and directly preceded Walz’s keynote address.
Check out the footage below.
According to CNN, Pink is set to close the final night of the DNC tonight (August 22).
The event comes ahead of the forthcoming US Presidential election, which will be held on November 5.
Last night’s instalment also saw speeches from actress Mindy Kaling, comedian Kenan Thompson, and Oprah Winfrey, who was added to the roster at the last minute.
Stars from across the music industry have come out in support of Harris, including Ariana Grande, Lizzo and Olivia Rodrigo – the latter of whom highlighted the VP’s stance on reproductive rights.
Charli XCX endorsed Harris by posting: “Kamala IS brat”, a reference to her new hit album and pop culture phenomenon ‘Brat’. This led to CNN attempting to explain the ‘Brat summer’ trend to its viewers live on air.
In July, Megan Thee Stallion performed at a rally as part of Harris‘ presidential election campaign.“Now I know my ladies in the crowd love their bodies. If you want to keep loving your bodies, you know who to vote for,” the artist told the audience in reference to Harris’ stance on reproductive rights.
Additionally, former Migos rapper Quavo delivered a speech at the rally about Harris’ commitment to tackling gun violence and running the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Earlier this month, Bon Iver also performed a short set in support of Harris‘ rally in Wisconsin.
Elsewhere, Beyoncé gave Harris permission to use her song ‘Freedom’ in an election campaign video after the VP recently walked out to the powerful anthem at a staff meeting.
Beyoncé has since reportedly threatened Republican Candidate Donald Trump‘s campaign with legal action for its unauthorised use of the song in a social media video.
According to a Rolling Stone report, with additional corroboration from Billboard, the ‘Love On Top’ singer’s record label and publisher issued a cease-and-desist letter to the Trump campaign after the former President’s spokesperson Steven Cheung posted a now-deleted video on X (formerly Twitter) of Trump stepping off an airplane with ‘Freedom’ playing in the background.
The post Watch Stevie Wonder perform and John Legend cover Prince with Sheila E at DNC appeared first on NME.
