Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga, DJ Cassidy to Headline Kamala Harris Election Eve Concert
The stars are doing one final push for Kamala Harris.
Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga, DJ Cassidy, Fat Joe, Ricky Martin and The Roots are among an A-list lineup for Harris’ Philadelphia concert and rally set for Monday night, the eve of 2024 Election Day.
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Freeway, Just Blaze, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Jazmine Sullivan and Adam Blackstone have also been tapped to mobilize voters for a final get-out-the-vote event, which will kick of 5 p.m. local time and go until 9 p.m. DJ Jazzy Jeff, Fat Joe and Winfrey are speakers.
The Philadelphia event will take place at the bottom of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. For weeks in the lead-up, the campaign had been promoting a get-out-the-vote rally and concert with a “surprise musical guest” to be scheduled for the last week before the election.
“It’s time to get ready to vote — I’ll see you guys in Pennsylvania,” Lady Gaga said in a video posted to her Instagram.
Harris will also be joined by husband Doug Emhoff at the Philadelphia campaign stop after attending a Get Out the Vote rally and concert earlier in the day in Pittsburgh featuring Katy Perry, Andra Day and D-Nice.
The Vote for Freedom rally is the campaign’s final Get Out the Vote effort before Election Day on Tuesday and is part of a simultaneous organizing of events the campaign is holding in seven battleground states to capture grassroots enthusiasm and mobilize voters. The events will be tied together in a national livestream; VIP seating was offered to anyone who completed a phone banking or door knocking shift between Oct. 28 and Nov. 3.
Other performers include 2 Chainz, Anthony Hamilton, Ciara and Joy of Jesse & Joy in Atlanta, Georgia; Fantasia Barrino, James Taylor, Remi Wolf and Sugarland in Raleigh, North Carolina; Christina Aguilera, Los Tigres Del Norte and Sofi Tukker in Las Vegas, Nevada, with remarks by Eva Longoria; La Original Banda El Limón in Phoenix, Arizona; and Tim Walz and Gwen Walz will be hosting rallies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with Eric Benét, and in Detroit, Michigan, with Detroit Youth Choir, Jon Bon Jovi, and The War and Treaty.
“These artists and public figures are trusted voices for millions of Americans, who listen to their music, follow them on social media, or otherwise are inspired by them,” the campaign said in the event announcement.
The 2024 election eve rallies follow a burst of Hollywood support in the final days leading into Nov. 5, including the Houston rally endorsement from heavy-hitter supporter Beyoncé, a Saturday Night Live appearance from Harris herself (prompting equal time given to Donald Trump on Sunday by NBC), and other high-profile endorsements from the likes of Harrison Ford, Jennifer Lawrence and Will.i.am.
A campaign senior official recently spoke of the impact of celebrities getting out the vote for Harris, noting how the campaign’s strategic use of DJs, videos, songs and celebrities throughout Harris’ campaign run speaks to both the hopeful and optimistic environment the vice president looks to create and helps to hammer home her message that “everyone has a home with us.”
DJ Cassidy, for example, helped rally the Democratic National Convention with a first-of-its-kind roll call dance party; Winfrey was also a surprise speaker at the convention. A recent NBC News poll shows the Democrat and Republican presidential candidates in a dead heat heading into Tuesday. “It’s going to be a razor-tight election. Every single vote will matter,” producer Will Packer told THR this week of why he is helping to get out the vote of Black men for Harris ahead of Tuesday.
The official — when speaking on background to reporters last week, including The Hollywood Reporter — said that the wave of celebrities speaking out, some for the first time politically and through non-political channels, is due to the high-stakes 2024 election between Harris and Trump. The organic response on social media has included developments like Nicky Jam revoking his Trump endorsement after the controversial comments about Puerto Rico at the former president’s Madison Square Garden rally.
The official said this kind of activity is breaking through and playing a big part in how the campaign is closing out strong, as it shows “how important that is to reach voters and to be very clear” of the difference between the two candidates heading into Tuesday.
Nov. 4, 9:30 a.m. This story has been updated to include the musical acts at all rallies Monday.
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