Springsteen, Beyonce, Bono to Headline Obama Inaugural Celebration

Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, U2's Bono, Mary J. Blige and Sheryl Crow are among the artists that will perform at We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration, taking place at Washington, DC's Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, January 18th. The event is free to the public and will be broadcast on HBO. The lineup also includes John Mellencamp, James Taylor, Usher, Stevie Wonder, Will.i.am, John Legend, Shakira and Garth Brooks. Additionally, Queen Latifah, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx and Martin Luther King III will give historical readings at the event.

The We Are One show will kick off four days worth of events before President-Elect Barack Obama is inaugurated into office. The Beastie Boys and Sheryl Crow will team up for the horribly named "Hey, America Feels Kinda Cool Again" concert on January 19th at the 9:30 Club. That same night, Jay-Z revealed he'd play the Warner Theatre in the nation's capital. Bela Fleck of Flecktones fame and Wynton Marsalis will also perform that night at a CNN event at the Kennedy Center. Finally, Marc Anthony and WAR will play the Latino Inaugural Ball on January 18th at Union Station.

The Washington Post previously reported that Springsteen would be involved in some sort of National Mall performance on the 18th, so it's safe to assume this was the event they were discussing. Springsteen had played some swing state concerts in support of Obama during the campaign. John Mellencamp, John Legend and Will.i.am were also vocal about their support of Obama.

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

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