The Obama Foundation announced on June 16, 2026, an impressive roster of celebrity performers scheduled to appear at the Obama Presidential Center’s grand opening ceremony on Thursday, June 18, presenting a stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s recent struggles to attract celebrity support for White House events.
The ceremony will feature more than a dozen acclaimed entertainers, from music legends Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen to U2’s Bono and The Edge. Other notable performers include The Roots, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam, Marc Anthony, Common, Tems, and actress Marsai Martin. All of these artists have won major awards including Grammys, Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, and Golden Globes, with several being Hall of Fame inductees.
The grand opening ceremony will take place at John Lewis Plaza on the center’s 19-acre campus in Chicago’s South Side. Audiences globally can watch the event live starting at 11 a.m. through Obama.org and the Obama Foundation’s TikTok, YouTube and Facebook channels. The center opens to the public on June 19, with grand opening weekend festivities continuing through the Juneteenth weekend, June 19-21.
Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation, said the celebration will embody inspiration and joy, amplified by the talented performers participating.
The celebration highlights former President Barack Obama’s continued ability to draw star power more than 10 years after leaving office. Several of the performers have been longtime Democrats who participated in past campaign events with the Obamas and appeared at the White House during Obama’s administration. Some celebrities, including Springsteen, have openly opposed Trump’s policies and actions during his second term in office.
President Trump even took time in April to attack the 76-year-old rocker on Truth Social for his harsh criticism of the president while on tour. The president decried the global artist as a “dried up prune” and demanded MAGA boycott his concerts.
The gathering of A-list talent in Chicago comes just days after President Trump’s UFC birthday bash at the White House on June 14 failed to draw a star-studded crowd. White told Time magazine he had extended invitations to multiple high-profile celebrities such as Adam Sandler, Guy Ritchie, Tom Brady, Jared Leto, Jason Statham, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Mario Lopez, but they declined to attend.
The event ultimately featured mostly lesser-known performers, members of the Trump family, and business executives such as Mark Zuckerberg who have been cultivating relationships with the White House. Comedian Nate Bargatze represented the most prominent entertainer Trump secured, which disappointed many of the Emmy-nominated performer’s supporters. The guest list also included comedians Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe, along with musicians Luke Bryan and Kid Rock. Zac Brown Band performed the national anthem at the event, which coincided with Trump’s birthday.
The president’s UFC fight also shocked viewers when fighter Josh Hokit hurled a vile insult at former first lady Michelle Obama during the event.
The UFC birthday bash is not the first Trump-aligned event that has seen top entertainers keeping their distance. Most of the performers set to appear at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall backed out of the concert after realizing it was not the nonpartisan event they had expected. Country star Martina McBride and R&B group The Commodores were among the acts that denounced the partisan nature of the event as they withdrew from the series of concerts.
McBride wrote in a May 28 post on X that she was presented with an opportunity to perform at what she believed was a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading. The Commodores wrote in an Instagram post that same day that their music has always been their voice and they choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party.
Trump ended up canceling the Great American State Fair event altogether as the vast majority of artists bailed. The fair was being organized by Freedom 250, a nonprofit group Trump created to plan the semiquincentennial celebration.
Meanwhile, Vanilla Ice remained committed to going forward with his performance, and Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli confirmed he would still take part in the I Love the ’90s Tour, saying he was there to entertain and unite people, not divide them.
This week, President Trump announced he would be holding a Trump rally on the National Mall on June 24 to mark America’s 250th anniversary. Country singer Lee Greenwood, who previously performed his 1984 hit “God Bless The U.S.A” at Trump’s inauguration, will perform the song at the anniversary event. The president will headline the rally and give a speech.
Trump has publicly criticized the Obama Presidential Center, calling the roughly $850 million facility a “total disaster” in a social media post. However, the Obama Foundation told USA TODAY that Trump was “welcome” to visit and tour the grounds.
The 19-acre campus is home to a Chicago Public Library branch, a playground, a sledding hill, a cafe and restaurant, an athletic center, community spaces and a ticketed museum that breaks from the traditional presidential library model. While museum tickets for opening weekend have sold out, the remainder of the campus will be free and open to visitors.
