Heading into the final night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, rumors swirled about high-profile, unannounced musical guests — which, given that Wednesday’s performers included Stevie Wonder and John Legend, helped create sky-high audience expectations.
The guests who had been announced — namely, The Chicks and Pink — brought plenty of star power of their own. But they weren’t joined by Beyoncé or Taylor Swift, as a broad swath of breathless social-media speculation predicted but could never quite confirm.
Instead, the special, previously unannounced guest was … nobody. The night’s headliner, Vice President Harris, had the spotlight to herself — which may have been the point all along.
Of course, there’s still time for high-profile musical endorsements to make themselves heard in the days and weeks to come. And Thursday night’s festivities were punctuated with musical moments.
The Chicks kicked off Thursday’s prime-time programming with an a cappella rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner,” in which the country superstars — whose complicated history has intersected with politics for decades — performed in melodically ambitious three-part harmony. The performance hit a few rough spots, pitch-wise, but soared during the biggest notes.
Within the hour, Pink took the stage for a rousing, virtually note-perfect rendition of her 2017 protest anthem “What About Us.” Joined by a guitarist and four backing singers, including her 13-year-old daughter Willow Sage Hart, Pink stayed thematically on-message, as the group sang the song’s chorus — “What about us? / What about all the times you said you had the answers?” — in unison.
But as far as live music in prime time was concerned, that was it. Speeches, balloon drops, the full run of Beyoncé’s 2016 hit “Freedom” over the loudspeakers, celebrities in the crowd, misty-eyed family members … the evening had everything a typical political convention promises. If Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are to enter our national conversation in person, they’ve got 74 more days to do it.
Amid a swirl of speculation and high expectations, prompted by TMZ’s reporting earlier Thursday that pop star Beyoncé would turn up, the DNC concluded with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech followed by a balloon-drop in the Chicago convention center, without any unscheduled surprise musical performance.
Rumors had swirled for days that Beyoncé or Taylor Swift might grace the DNC stage. Other suggestions of surprise speakers, such as former President George W. Bush or former Republican presidential nominee Sen. Mitt Romney, for the final night emerged but proved untrue. Romney quickly dashed any expectations with a post on X: “Contrary to fake news posts, I am not the surprise guest at the DNC tonight. My guess is that it will be Beyoncé or Taylor Swift. So disappointing, I know!”
But in the end, there was no “surprise guest,” as the event unfolded largely as scheduled. Attendees, however, weren’t disappointed.
“It would have been nice to have Beyoncé here, but it wasn’t about Beyoncé,” says Kristin Broner of Florida, who attended the convention as a guest of delegates. “It was about our democracy. And so her being here would have been lovely, but also we were here to do something, and that was to nominate Kamala Harris to be our Democratic nominee to be the next President of the United States of America.”
“Yes, it would have been great to have Beyoncé. I mean, you know, I love Queen B,” Broner added. “But this isn’t about us being entertained.”
Speculation that Beyoncé might appear at the DNC was fueled by a series of clues, including a sound check at the United Center that featured Beyoncé’s hit song “Cuff It” and Harris’ use of Beyoncé’s 2016 track “Freedom” in campaign videos and throughout the convention. About an hour before Harris took the stage, Beyoncé’s recent hit song “Texas Hold ’Em” played over the arena loudspeakers as the crowd waved American flags, many cheering in anticipation of a live performance, and some donning rhinestone cowboy hats in the style of Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour outfit.
What seemed like subtle hints, combined with Beyoncé’s criticisms of former President Donald Trump and past support for Democratic causes, led many to believe that her presence was all but guaranteed. Others wondered if fellow chart-topping icon Swift, who recently wrapped up the European leg of her highly successful Eras Tour and was the subject of a fake endorsement of Trump earlier this week, might also make an unexpected appearance.
That neither ended up appearing left many viewers at home feeling shortchanged, as expressed by social media users—some of whom blamed TMZ for being misled, others who joked about what the real surprise of the night turned out to be:
Maybe the surprise guest was the friends we made along the way
The surprise guest was a renewed spirit of patriotism among American liberals
if you've been living under a rock for a month, technically the surprise guest star is Kamala Harris
But Democrats in attendance said that it was “probably best” that Harris, whose speech at the convention was a major test after only assuming her presidential candidacy less than a month ago after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, wasn’t upstaged by a pop superstar.
“Beyoncé is everybody’s favorite celebrity’s favorite celebrity,” one person, who asked not to be named, told TIME. “So it [would] take that moment away from Kamala.”
Despite neither Beyoncé nor Swift showing up—The Hollywood Reporter reported that Beyoncé was never scheduled to be there—the convention’s final night still included a high-profile lineup of performers on Thursday. The Chicks opened the primetime portion of the event with a stirring a cappella version of the national anthem, and later P!nk gave an electrifying performance of her protest anthem “What About Us,” joined by her daughter Willow Sage Hart. The DNC, under the leadership of chair Minyon Moore who has sought to engage diverse and younger demographics, also already featured performances earlier in the week by John Legend, Stevie Wonder, and Lil Jon, whose energetic sets have been credited with creating an electrifying environment.
“Kamala is the world’s Beyoncé,” another attendee said of the woman who ended up being the true headliner. “She is the political Beyoncé. What else can you ask for?”
Emmy Ruiz posted a very interesting emoji on her social media page Thursday afternoon:
📺 24/7 Chicago news stream: Watch NBC 5 free wherever you are
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Ruiz did send a follow-up tweet afterward, saying that her 6-year-old child “took her phone,” which was met with skepticism by commenters on the post.
Ultimately Beyoncé did not perform at the DNC.
A representative for Beyoncé says the singer will not attend the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
“Beyoncé was never scheduled to be there,” the Grammy-winning star’s rep tells The Hollywood Reporter. “The report of a performance is untrue.”
Rumors about the pop star attending and performing at this year’s DNC, celebrating Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic presidential nomination, have exploded online throughout the week.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Pink would be the headline act ahead of Harris’ speech. On Thursday, Pink — who performed “What About Us” with her daughter Willow — appeared to have moved up in the lineup, continuing to add more fuel to the fire about a surprise guest coming later in the night.
Beyoncé’s presence was ultimately still felt in Chicago’s United Center arena, as her song “Freedom” ended up playing Harris both on and off the stage for her speech when she formally accepted the party’s nomination later on Thursday. The superstar singer had granted Harris quick permission to use the 2016 Lemonade track for her presidential campaign. “Freedom” has since become a campaign anthem, also appearing in a new Harris-Walz ad that helped kick off the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
This year’s DNC was hosted by Tony Goldwyn, Ana Navarro, Mindy Kaling and Kerry Washington, with each star emceeing one night of the event. The four-day convention featured performances by Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Patti LaBelle and other major musicians; surprise appearances by the likes of Oprah Winfrey, who gave a speech urging those who are registered as independent like herself to vote; a daytime panel moderated by Julia Louis-Dreyfus; and more.
On night three, Legend and Sheila E. paid tribute to vice presidential nominee Tim Walz’s home state of Minnesota by performing Prince’s song “Let’s Go Crazy.” The late icon was born in Minneapolis.
Wonder also made a surprise appearance in Chicago on Wednesday, where he performed his hit song “Higher Ground.” “This is the moment to remember: when you tell your children where you were and what you did. As we stand between history’s pain and tomorrow’s promises, we must choose courage over complacency. It is time to get up and go vote,” Wonder told the crowd.
July’s Republican National Convention attracted such luminaries as Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock and Amber Rose.
Write to Nik Popli / Chicago at [email protected]
