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And Finally Artist News
Garth Brooks tops dwindling wishlist of artists to play Donald Trump’s inauguration
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 12 December 2016
Time is running out to book someone to perform at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration party. All hopes are now being pinned on Garth Brooks.
As previously reported, various artists have been linked to the show and then quickly fallen over each other to deny that they are playing. In particular, Elton John quickly shot down claims by Trump advisor Anthony Scaramucci that he would be performing at the event. More recently, former Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil told TMZ that he had been “uninvited” to the party.
Rumours that Brooks would do the honours have been floating around for a little while now, though on Friday he told TMZ: “I don’t know [if I’ll play], I haven’t been asked”.
Asked if he would consider it, he added: “It’s always about serving, it’s what you do”.
I think we can take that as a ‘yes’ but without specifically endorsing Trump. Indeed, Trump would not be the first US president who has put on a performance by Garth Brooks, as a spokesperson was keen to point out.
“Garth has performed for the five living presidents”, Brooks’ publicist Nancy Seltzer told Reuters. “While rumour has it that he has been asked to perform for President-Elect Trump, he has not been able to commit yet”.
Does that last sentence mean he has been asked or he hasn’t? It’s a weird choice of words, isn’t it? None of this makes it seem like Brooks is particularly eager to play the event on 20 Jan. And if you wanted any more signs that this is shaping up to be America’s Bpoplive, there was a bullish statement about how everything was fine too.
Asked if Trump’s team were finding it a bit of a struggle to find artists willing to perform for the new president, the President-Elect’s Communications Director Boris Epshteyn told ABC News: “No struggle whatsoever. We have world-class talent, world-class entertainers reaching out to us offering their help, offering their services so no struggle, whatsoever”.
No entertainers, world-class or otherwise, have yet been confirmed for the event.
