James Taylor was supposed to perform at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago yesterday at around 9p between First Lady Jill Biden’s speech and her daughter, Ashley, introducing her father, President Joe Biden. However, the festivities were running late, so they removed him from the schedule even though he did a sound check.
What happened? Convention officials told The Hollywood Reporter.“Because of the raucous applause interrupting speaker after speaker, we ultimately skipped elements of our program to ensure we could get to President Biden as quickly as possible so that he could speak directly to the American people. We are proud of the electric atmosphere in our convention hall and proud that our convention is showcasing the broad and diverse coalition behind the Harris-Walz ticket throughout the week on and off the stage.”
The singer has yet to address his last-minute cancellation, and the DNC has not said if he will perform on another day. Do you think they should make time for him?
UPDATE: James Taylor broke his silence about not performing at the DNC. To see what he said, then
It was exciting to see and hear so many of the speakers at the opening night of the Democratic convention here in Chicago. And we had a great rehearsal with Rickey Minor and terrific singers, Kenya Hathaway and Mathew Johnson before the event.
Lots of friends got in touch, wishing us well: Kim, Owen Young and me. But it became clear, as the evening unfolded, that there wouldn’t be time for our “You’ve Got a Friend” with cello and voices. Maybe the organizers couldn’t anticipate the wild response from the floor of the United Center…
Anyway, sorry to disappoint. But a great and inspirational, quintessentially American moment. We were honored to be there…
James Taylor
