The Electoral College officially voted Donald Trump into the presidency on December 19th, and the transition team has begun gearing up for inauguration day—not that it's been easy getting a big-name star to agree to perform. (Obama's inaugurations featured performances by Beyoncé, Aretha Franklin, Yo-Yo Ma, James Taylor, and Kelly Clarkson.) Here, for political reasons or otherwise, are the stars we know will not be stepping up to the mic on January 20.
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Jennifer Holliday
Although initially confirmed to perform for Trump's inauguration, Holliday backed out of the performance. She explained her decision in a statement to TheWrap, "I was honestly just thinking that I wanted my voice to be a healing and unifying force for hope through music to help our deeply polarized country… Regretfully, I did not take into consideration that my performing for the concert would actually instead be taken as a political act against my own personal beliefs and be mistaken for support of Donald Trump and Mike Pence....In light of the information pointed out to me via the Daily Beast article on yesterday, my only choice must now be to stand with the LGBT Community and to state unequivocally that I WILL NOT PERFORM FOR THE WELCOME CONCERT OR FOR ANY OF THE INAUGURATION FESTIVITIES!"
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Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church tweeted, "@realDonaldTrump Your staff have asked me to sing at your inauguration, a simple Internet search would show I think you're a tyrant. Bye"
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Rebecca Ferguson
Rebecca Ferguson tweeted, "I've been asked and this is my answer. If you allow me to sing "strange fruit" a song that has huge historical importance, a song that was blacklisted in the United States for being too controversial. A song that speaks to all the disregarded and down trodden black people in the United States. A song that is a reminder of how love is the only thing that will conquer all the hatred in this world, then I will graciously accept your invitation and see you in Washington. Best Rebecca X."
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John Legend
John Legend told BBC, "Creative people tend to reject bigotry and hate. We tend to be more liberal-minded. When we see somebody that's preaching division and hate and bigotry, it's unlikely he'll get a lot of creative people that want to be associated with him."
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Idina Menzel
"I think it's karma, baby. I mean, look. All the artists in the world got up and tried to get our girl elected, and it still didn't happen, so we're all still trying to recover from that. Maybe he'll just have to sing something himself. He probably thinks he has a great voice; he thinks he does everything great," Idina Menzel told Vanity Fair.
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Zara Larsson
"I would never do it," singer Zara Larsson told BBC.
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Kanye West
"No, No. Donald is a great admirer of Kanye, as we are all, but he is not performing at inauguration," chairman of Trump's inaugural committee, Tom Barrack said to CNN.
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The Dixie Chicks
The Dixie Chicks' manager revealed to TheWrap, "If anyone does do it, I hope that the check that they get is in the nine figures. Because it's probably the last check they're ever going to get."
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Céline Dion
TheWrap reported that Trump's friend who owns many Las Vegas hotels, Steven Wynn, said that he would be able to easily secure the singer, but she declined when approached for the job.
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Issa Rae
Issa Rae explained to TheWrap, "If I died and they like 'Weekend at Bernies'ed me, so they just propped me up on stage. That's literally the only way I would perform. I would just be like [lifeless], and they'll move my lips for me."
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Eric McCormack
Erick McCormack told TheWrap that he would do it in exchange for a lobotomy. "My whole brain removed from my head," he joked.
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David Foster
Musician David Foster wrote in an Instagram post, "Woke up this morning to a lot of news. For the record, I was asked to participate in the upcoming inauguration some time ago and I politely and respectfully declined. Any news outlet that is reporting otherwise is misinformed."
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The Chainsmokers
New York magazine's Brian Feldman tweeted that "the chainsmokers are performing at the inauguration." But the band's manager was quick to reply, saying that it was "false."
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Michael Rapaport
"I wouldn't do it for money. Trump has no flavor. His supporters have no flavor," actor and comedian Michael Rapaport revealed to TheWrap.
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Adam Lambert
The BBCreports that Adam Lambert said, "I don't think I would take the money on that one."
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Alex Wolff
"No f*cking way. I'm not going to elaborate further because I know when to be tight-lipped, but no f*cking way," Alex Wolff, of the Naked Brothers Band fame, told the TheWrap.
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Any D.C. Marching Bands
For the first time in 20 years, D.C. marching bands have expressed that they aren't particularly interested in performing for the president-elect and have declined requests, according to NBC Washington.
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Vince Neil
TMZ reported that Vince Neil and his band tried to work with the Secret Service to get clearance perform at the inauguration before the election thinking that everything was already was confirmed. It was suggested that Hillary Clinton and her team were so confident in winning that they booked him two months in advance, but when Trump became the president-elect he was uninvited.
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Garth Brooks
Originally leaving the door opened to performing for Trump's inauguration, a source familiar with the situation told TheWrap that he will sit this one out instead.
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Andrea Bocelli
A source told Page Six, "Bocelli said there was no way he'd take the gig...he was 'getting too much heat' and he said no."Another source countered, saying, "Trump suggested to Bocelli he not participate because of the backlash. It's sad people on the left kept him from performing on a historic day."
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Elton John
After Anthony Scaramucci, a member of Trump's transition team, told BBC, "Elton John is going to be doing our concert on the Mall for the inauguration," a rep from John's team told The Huffington Postit wasn't true.
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