The Democratic National Convention will deliver some music for the people on Monday night in Chicago.
Legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor, country standout Mickey Guyton and folk/Americana star Jason Isbell are confirmed to hit the stage at the United Center to help kick off the four-day convention as part of tonight’s packed program organized under a theme of “For the People,” convention officials confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
As previously announced, Monday’s schedule will feature a keynote from President Joe Biden and remarks from a slate of high-profile politicos and Biden family members including first lady Dr. Jill Biden, Ashley Biden, former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, U.S. Sen. Raphael G. Warnock and others.
THR has learned that Taylor, a longtime Democrat and activist who campaigned for Biden and former President Barack Obama, will be the night’s final performer. Taylor’s showing tonight will mark a return to the DNC stage. In 2012, he performed “Carolina in My Mind,” “You’ve Got a Friend” and “How Sweet It Is” from the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. “I’m a lifelong Democrat, and I pay a lot of taxes, and I want a government that I paid for,” Taylor has previously said. “I do feel as a citizen, I just feel compelled to respond when I’m asked for support.”
Kerry Washington, Mindy Kaling, Tony Goldwyn and Ana Navarro will serve as hosts at the 2024 DNC, with each of the stars delivering opening remarks and making appearances throughout the evening on select nights. The schedule is as follows: Goldwyn (Monday), Navarro (Tuesday), Kaling (Wednesday) and Washington (Thursday, which is also the day that Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the Democratic nomination for president). Additional performers are expected throughout the week, and those names have yet to be announced.
Born in Massachusetts and raised in North Carolina, Grammy Award-winning Taylor has a history of activism that has found him hitting the stage for causes he cares deeply about and for backing Democratic politicians including Biden, Obama and Clinton. He turned up at multiple campaign events for Obama, and performed “America the Beautiful” during his second-term inauguration in 2013. More recently, Taylor had been showing his support for President Biden’s re-election efforts before the president elected to step down from the current campaign.
For his part, Isbell, who has a load of tour dates scheduled for the rest of this year with his band The 400 Unit, is expected to perform his song “Something More Than Free.” The rocker’s participation was reported earlier today following a leak of sorts. During CNN’s live broadcast from the network’s DNC booth, Isbell’s soundcheck could be heard in the background and his face was visible on the screens. The outspoken Grammy Award winner had posted to Threads when Biden dropped out of the race, sharing, “Finally somebody shows some integrity and consideration for the American people.”
Guyton’s appearance comes as she’s readying for the release of her new album, House on Fire, on Sept. 27. She has a new song out this Friday titled “My Side of the Country” and her inclusion in the DNC festivities represents a showing from a successful Black female artist who has blazed her own trail in country music, long considered an industry dominated by white men.
“There’s so many people — women, Black women, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQIA+ — that have a unique story that’s important to be heard and when you’re not giving people that platform, that is just flat out wrong in my personal opinion,” she once told E! News. “That’s why representation matters, because there’s a little 7-year-old girl out there that looks like me that has these dreams and when she doesn’t see herself, she doesn’t get to pursue that and she doesn’t get to live a life that could have been destined for her.”
The 2024 DNC is the official event where Democrats from all 50 states and the U.S. territories will come together from Aug. 19 to 22 to rally for Harris in her bid to be elected to the White House alongside vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. Nightly programming will be headquartered at Chicago’s United Center with other party activities set to take place at McCormick Place Convention Center, all of which are rolled out as a collaboration between the Democratic National Committee, the Chicago host committee, the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois. Per the DNC, 50,000 visitors are expected to descend upon Chicago, a figure that includes 5,000 delegates and alternates and 15,000 members of the media.