Beyoncé’s team have said she was “never scheduled to perform” at the Democratic National Convention, despite rumours being rife that she would be appearing.
Speculation was rampant on Thursday (August 22) that Queen Bey would be the surprise guest at the final day of the DNC, where Kamala Harris formally accepted the party’s nomination for President.
Several outlets, including TMZ, reported that the ‘Crazy In Love’ singer would be there, with some others suggesting that Taylor Swift might also be lined up in the Democrats’ back pocket.
As it turned out, the headline musical act at the Chicago event was P!nk, who performed her 2017 hit ‘What About Us’ with her 13-year-old daughter Willow Sage Hart. Watch the footage of that below.
“Beyoncé was never scheduled to be there,” her representative told The Hollywood Reporter. “The report of a performance is untrue,”
She might not have been there in person, but Beyoncé’s presence was felt nevertheless, as when Harris concluded her rousing speech at the end of Thursday’s proceedings, she was played off by Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’, the official anthem for her presidential campaign.
Earlier in the week Queen Bey had issued a cease-and-desist letter to Donald Trump’s campaign to prevent them from using the same song.
Harris has been picking up support from across the music industry since emerging as the Democrats’ candidate, 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.
Elsewhere at the DNC, a slew of big name musical acts were on hand to perform, including Stevie Wonder, John Legend, The Chicks, Lil Jon, Jason Isbell and Maren Morris.
Hulk Hogan, meanwhile, asked a crowd this week whether they want to see him “body slam” and “drop a leg” on Harris, before questioning her ethnicity.
The Democratic National Convention came ahead of the forthcoming US Presidential election, which will be held on November 5.
