CHICAGO — The Democratic National Convention began on Monday in Chicago, with roughly 50,000 people expected to arrive in the Windy City.
The national convention unfolding in Chicago this week holds particularly high stakes for Democrats. The party must finalize the unprecedented mid-campaign handoff from President Joe Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris and reintroduce the vice president to a divided country that's still making up its mind about her.
Much of the opening night programing will focus on Biden’s record during his time in the White House.
The Democrats also pulled together some celebrity entertainment for their convention. Here's who's set to take the stage on the convention's opening night.
Who is performing at the DNC?
Mickey Guyton
Mickey Guyton sang her 2021 song “All-American” at the Democratic convention on a night when the entertainment will have a country-and-folk feel.
Guyton took the stage alone with a microphone in a white spangled gown and a greeting of “How y’all doing?” before belting the chorus, “Ain’t we all all-American?” in front of a backdrop showing rural highways and classrooms as some in the audience shone the lights on their cell phones and waved them.
The Texan Guyton has been among country music’s elite in recent years, performing the national anthem at the Super Bowl in 2022, hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards and becoming the first Black woman to be nominated for a Grammy in a country category.
The Grammy-nominated singer confirmed her performance on Instagram hours before the event kicked off.
Jason Isbell
Wearing a tuxedo in a hue of Democratic blue, country and Americana singer-songwriter Jason Isbell sang his labor-celebrating “Something More Than Free” on the convention stage.
Backed by the house band, Isbell took the stage with his Telecaster guitar, singing lyrics that included, “Sunday morning I’m too tired to go to church. I just thank God for the work,” in front of an image of a barn with an American flag painted on it.
He ended with a shoutout to the delegation from his native Alabama.
The 45-year-old singer and sometime actor — he had a major supporting role in Martin Scorcese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” last year — is from the community of Green Hill. He’s known for speaking out about liberal causes, and his willingness to spar with commenters, on social media.
Why didn't James Taylor perform?
Musician James Taylor had been scheduled to perform before Biden but didn’t.
In a statement, convention organizers said that lengthy applause was “interrupting speaker after speaker” and that they’d “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.”
Taylor had done soundcheck on stage in Chicago on Monday afternoon, ahead of the expected evening performance at the convention.
The convention started late and ran more than an hour behind schedule, stretching past midnight on the East Coast. Still, organizers insisted, “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.”
Taylor also performed at the 2012 DNC in North Carolina, where President Barack Obama was nominated for a second term.
