Skip to content

Nick Jonas Returning to Broadway to Star in ‘The Last Five Years’ Revival

Search

John Legend Performs ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ Prince Tribute at DNC With Sheila E.

John Legend Performs ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ Prince Tribute at DNC With Sheila E.
Kalia Richardson
By Kalia RichardsonAug 22, 2024
Kalia Richardson
See Full Bio

John Legend welcomed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention, performing a song by one of Minnesota’s greatest artists: Prince. Ahead of Walz’s acceptance as the party’s vice presidential nominee, Legend honored the Gopher state, where Walz coached high school football before becoming governor. (Legend previously participated in a Prince tribute at the 2020 Grammys, with a performance of Prince-penned Sinead O’Connor hit “Nothing Compares 2 U.”)

Together with Sheila E., Legend sang “Let’s Go Crazy” — the 1984 single by Prince and The Revolution, from the album Purple Rain.

Legend shared his endorsement of Vice Preident Kamala Harris as the presidential candidate in a CBS Mornings interview Wednesday, and said, “she also has the right character traits I think to be a great president, which means she cares about people’s lives, wants government to work for people and improve their lives.” He joined a slew of actors and artists who have also pledged their support for the presidential candidate including Charli XCX, Barbara Streisand, Jane Fonda, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Kerry Washington.

Grammy-winning country artist Maren Morris, a staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and gender-affirming health care, also performed earlier on Wednesday and sang her 2020 track, “Better Than We Found It.”

In 2022, the “Bones” singer chastised Brittany Aldean, country artist Jason Aldean’s wife, for her transphobic comments, and during a January 2023 Rupaul’s Drag Race appearance, Morris apologized on behalf of the country music industry for its discriminatory treatment of LGBTQ+ people. Morris received the Changemaker Award during Variety‘s Hitmakers event in December and spoke openly about the “deeply fractured” genre that favors men, adding, “Even as I stand here today, not a single solo woman artist has been in the Top 20 on the Country Airplay charts in the last two weeks.”

“I realized very quickly that publicly pointing out these inequalities doesn’t make you the most popular,” Morris continued at the Hitmakers event. “If you dare criticize blatant misogyny, racism, transphobia within the ranks of your industry, you’re met with isolation, death threats, labeled as ungrateful, biting the hand that fed you. Or diminishingly told to just shut up and sing.”

Several country artists took the stage during the first night of the Democratic National Convention: Mickey Guyton performed “All American” — whichRolling Stone’s Marissa R. Moss called “an audible version of the Harris-Walz camo hat” — and Jason Isbell sang “Something More Than Free,” off of his 2015 album of the same name.

Pink is expected to close out the Chicago convention Thursday.

Most Popular

More Stories

Sabrina Carpenter Is Viscously Clever and Done With Love Triangles on ‘Short N’ Sweet’: 5 Takeaways

Sabrina Carpenter Is Viscously Clever and Done With Love Triangles on ‘Short N’ Sweet’: 5 Takeaways

After Sabrina Carpenter’s summer takeover with “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” the anticipation for Short n’ Sweet was at an all-time high. On her sixth album, the pop singer keeps the surprises coming as she delivers a masterclass in clever songwriting and hops between R&B and folk-pop with ease. Carpenter writes about the frustration of modern-day romance, all the while cementing herself as a pop classic. Here’s everything we gathered from the new project.

Please Please Please Don’t Underestimate Her Humor

Carpenter gave us a glimpse of her humor on singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” — she’s working late because she’s a singer; ceiling fans are a pretty great invention! But no one could have guessed how downright hilarious she is on Short n’ Sweet, delivering sugary quips like “The Lord forgot my gay awakenin’” (“Slim Pickins”) and “How’s the weather in your mother’s basement?” (“Needless to Say”). She’s also adorably nerdy, fretting about grammar (“This boy doesn’t even know/The difference between ‘there,’ ‘their’ and ‘they are!’”) and getting Shakespearian (“Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?”). On “Juno,” she even takes a subject as serious as pregnancy and twists it into a charming pop culture reference for the ages: “If you love me right, then who knows?/I might let you make me Juno.” It’s official: Do not underestimate Ms. Carpenter’s pen. — A.M.

Keep ReadingShow less
RFK Jr. Suspends Campaign, Endorses Trump

RFK Jr. Suspends Campaign, Endorses Trump

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suspended his 2024 presidential campaign, and according to a court filing in Pennsylvania on Friday will throw his weight behind former President Donald Trump.

Multiple news outlets reported on Wednesday that independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. was planning to drop out of the race and endorse Trump. He clarified at an event in Arizona on Friday that he is not terminating his campaign, only suspending it, and that his name will remain on the ballot in non-battleground states. He said that if enough people still vote for him and Trump and Kamala Harris tie in the Electoral College, he could still wind up in the White House.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Chicks’ ‘Not Ready to Make Nice’ Has Somehow Become a MAGA Anthem on TikTok

The Chicks’ ‘Not Ready to Make Nice’ Has Somehow Become a MAGA Anthem on TikTok

One little funny/bizarre/horrifying thing about the internet is the way it offers up everything and, in doing so, makes it possible to strip anything of its history. But to paraphrase Kamala Harris, you didn’t just fall out of the coconut tree. “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you” — wise words worth heeding, especially for all the Trump voters and conservatives making TikToks with the Chicks’ “Not Ready to Make Nice.”

Over the past month or so, “Not Ready to Make Nice” has become an unexpected MAGA anthem of sorts, meant to express a certain rage at liberals supposedly telling conservatives what to do all the time (the past few Supreme Court terms notwithstanding, apparently). Young women especially have taken the song as a way to push back against the possibility of Harris becoming the first female president. 

Keep ReadingShow less
Sabrina Carpenter, Myke Towers, Cash Cobain, and All the Songs You Need to Know This Week

Sabrina Carpenter, Myke Towers, Cash Cobain, and All the Songs You Need to Know This Week

Welcome to our weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big new singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. This week, Sabrina Carpenter delivers her long-awaited debut Short ‘n Sweet, Myke Towers switches lanes with the help of Peso Pluma, and Cash Cobain moves drill music forward with a crossover hit. Plus, new music from Lainey Wilson, Blink182, and Coldplay.

Sabrina Carpenter, ‘Taste” (YouTube)

Keep ReadingShow less
Hear Blink-182 Have Fun While Complaining They Have ‘No Fun’ on New Songs

Hear Blink-182 Have Fun While Complaining They Have ‘No Fun’ on New Songs

Ahead of the release of One More Time … Part-2, Blink-182 have released two new charging pop-punk songs, “All in My Head” and “No Fun.” The updated album will come out Sept. 6.

On “All in My Head,” Mark Hoppus sings about how hard touring life is staying in “lonely hotel rooms, cum stains on the couch.” But for as gross and sad as that reads, the song itself is pretty fun. Hoppus and Tom DeLonge trade vocals on the chorus: “I’m moving on, I’m better now, I sleep alone,” Hoppus sings, while DeLonge counters about how he’s not giving up despite feeling like he’s not good enough and how it hurts getting up. All that leads to an existential crisis, “I’m freaking out, is it all in my head?”

Keep ReadingShow less