Country music star Toby Keith will perform at Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration” concert on Jan. 19 (the eve of Inauguration Day), and he isn’t sorry about it one bit.
“I don’t apologize for performing for our country or military,” Keith said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly, after hearing some criticism for his decision. “I performed at events for previous presidents [George W.] Bush and [Barack] Obama and over 200 shows in Iraq and Afghanistan for the USO.”
Keith will be joined at the celebratory concert by 3 Doors Down, Lee Greenwood, The Piano Guys and the Frontmen of Country, according to an announcement posted on the Presidential Inaugural Committee site.
Broadway star Jennifer Holliday was also slated to perform but backed out. On Saturday, in a letter published by The Wrap, Holliday apologized to the LGBTQ community for agreeing to perform in the first place, calling the initial decision a “lapse of judgement.”
A handful of other celebrities, including Welsh singer Charlotte Church, have also turned down invitations to perform at any of Trump’s inaugural celebrations.
A painting depicting the inauguration of George Washington as the first president of the United States in 1789.
Washington's second inauguration by J.L.G. Ferris. The print shows George Washington arriving at Congress Hall in Philadelphia on March 4, 1793.
Thomas Jefferson tethers his horses to a post before attending his inauguration circa 1801.
James Monroe at his inauguration; he was president 1817-1825.
A mob gathers outside the White House during Andrew Jackson's first inaugural reception. He took office in 1829.
The inauguration of Martin Van Buren in the Senate chamber on March 4, 1837.
Lithograph of the presidential inauguration of William Henry Harrison on March 4, 1841, in Washington, D.C.
The inauguration of James Polk in 1845.
Zachary Taylor is inaugurated in 1849.
Military units precede Franklin Pierce's carriage down Pennsylvania Avenue during Inauguration Day ceremonies in 1853.
The inauguration of James Buchanan in 1857.
Crowds watch the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln on March 4, 1861.
Crowds gather at Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration, March 4, 1865.
Ulysses S. Grant is sworn in as president in 1869.
A crowd watches the inauguration of Rutherford B. Hayes on the East Front of the Capitol, March 5, 1877.
The inauguration of James Garfield circa 1881.
Chester Alan Arthur is inaugurated on Sept. 20, 1881.
Grover Cleveland stands at the center of the crowded grandstand erected for his first inauguration in March 1885.
Benjamin Harrison's inaugural reception circa 1889.
Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland ride in a horse-drawn carriage at Cleveland's second inauguration on March 4, 1893.
William McKinley makes his inaugural address in 1897.
Theodore Roosevelt's second inauguration on March 4, 1905.
The inaugural parade for William Howard Taft in 1909.
Woodrow Wilson during his inaugural address on March 4, 1913.
Woodrow Wilson addresses the crowd on March 5, 1917, for his second inauguration.
Warren G. Harding delivers his inaugural address from a stand along the East Portico of the Capitol in 1921.
Calvin Coolidge takes the oath of office at the inaugural ceremony on March 4, 1925, after he was elected to a full term. William Howard Taft, a Supreme Court justice and former president, presides over the ceremony.
Crowds stand in front of a decoration platform in front of the Capitol during the inauguration of Herbert Hoover on March 4, 1929.
Franklin D. Roosevelt takes the oath of office in Washington D.C., in 1933.
Franklin D. Roosevelt gives his inaugural speech at the Capitol as his second term begins on Jan. 20, 1937.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's third inauguration in 1941.
Franklin D. Roosevelt waves from a lectern just after taking his fourth oath of office on Jan. 20, 1945.
Harry Truman recites his inaugural address to 130,000 people in the Capitol Plaza in 1949, as his first full term in office begins.
Dwight D. Eisenhower takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 1953.
Dwight D. Eisenhower during his second inaugural address on Jan. 21, 1957.
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