Bruce Springsteen, U2 and more team up for Obama Presidential Center’s opening
Bruce Springsteen is leading the charge on a star-studded line-up for the Obama Presidential Center’s grand opening ceremony set to take place on June 18th.
Springsteen, alongside U2’s Bono and the Edge, ‘Sir Duke’ hitmaker Stevie Wonder, and the former will share their support for the previous US President.
Appearances will also come from Christina Aguilera, Common, Eddie Vedder, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Marc Anthony, Marsai Martin, the Roots, and Tems.
The show will be livestreamed globally here and will take place in Chicago at 5pm BST.
The Obama Foundation shared in an announcement on Instagram, “We are bringing together some of today’s most prominent voices and global icons for the Obama Presidential Center Grand Opening Ceremony.”
The tagline on the official website also reads, “Hope has a home, and it’s time to open the doors.” This is in direct opposition to Trump’s obsessive attempt to have his name added to The Kennedy Center, which has now been removed after a court order.
Springsteen’s involvement in the event comes as no surprise, after ‘The Boss’ has spent the last handful of years ramping up his public dissent of the president.
Springsteen, who has called Trump “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous” on many occasions, has been branded a “dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker” by the politician.
Last year, Bono made it clear who he was siding with in their pseudo-war, responding when pressed about their public feud: “There’s only one Boss in America.”
Additionally, Vedder also backed Springsteen, sharing at a Pearl Jam concert in Pittsburgh that Trump’s “response [to Springsteen] had nothing to do with the issues. All that we heard were personal attacks and threats that nobody else should try to use their microphones or voice in public, or they’ll be shut down. Part of free speech is open discussion”.
Those in Chicago can celebrate the opening at an official watch party on a big screen at Midway Plaisance Park near the Center, official comms suggest.
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