Justin Timberlake To Perform New Song, “Better Days” At Joe Biden’s Inauguration
The 90 minute special will take place on January 20. It will feature performances by Jon Bon Jovi, Ant Clemons, and Demi Lovato
President elect Joe Biden will inaugurate his presidency in style later this month.
According to a press release, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced plans for a live prime-time show as part of the inauguration. The live 90 – minute special is titled “Celebrating America,” and it will be hosted by Tom Hanks.
It will feature performances by Justin Timberlake, Demi Lovato, Jon Bon Jovi, R&B singer Ant Clemons, and more stars that are yet to be announced.
The inauguration will be centered around an “American United” theme which will “highlight the strength of our democracy, the perseverance of our people, and our ability to come together during trying times and emerge stronger than ever before.”
In an interview with TODAY, Timberlake talked about his excitement over his performance at the event. “There’s a song that I wrote with a new artist who was just nominated for a Grammy, Ant Clemons, and we wrote a song called ‘Better Days.’ We’re going to be performing it at the inauguration. So incredibly excited. What an honor,” he said.
The song was written as a reaction to the frustrations and challenges onset by the pandemic. It is “a reminder to stay hopeful and continue working toward a better future,” said Timberlake.
Timberlake also posted about his upcoming performance on Instagram earlier today. “A few months ago, during lockdown, @antclemons and I wrote a song together called BETTER DAYS. (I actually recorded my final vocals for this song on election night…),” he wrote. “I’m very honored to announce we will be performing this song on January 20th for the Presidential Inauguration,” he continued. “We have a long way to go to fix, undo, and rebuild this country… but I hope now, despite the past four years, we are on our way.”
The program will air live on ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and MSNBC. It will be available to livestream on the PIC’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Twitch channels. It will also be available on Amazon Prime Video, Microsoft Bing, NewsNOW from Fox, and AT&T DirecTV and U-verse.
“At a time of unprecedented crisis and deep divisions, America United reflects the beginning of a new national journey that restores the soul of America, brings the country together, and creates a path to a brighter future,” said Biden’s inaugural committee.
In the meantime, you can watch a behind the scenes video of the making of “Better Days” below:
A few months ago @AntClemons and I wrote BETTER DAYS. This song was our way of doing what little we could to encourage everyone to stay hopeful and to keep working towards a better future. I’m honored to announce we’ll be performing it for the Inauguration. pic.twitter.com/aes5gXdEww
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) January 13, 2021