I Think I Know Why Carrie Underwood’s Playing Trump Inauguration

Carrie Underwood will begin her very high-profile year with a performance at Monday’s (Jan. 20) presidential inauguration.

This week, she confirmed she has signed up to sing “America the Beautiful” ahead of Donald Trump’s ceremony.

Once upon a time, performing for a president wasn’t the equivalent of making a political statement, but in recent years, it is considered to be. Garth Brooks learned this when he performed for Joe Biden in 2020, but to be honest, it has been true for more than a decade.

“This is not a political statement. This is a statement of unity,” Brooks said then.

Underwood’s statement on the matter is similar: “I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future,” she says.

I’m going to say something controversial: I think Garth Brooks was being honest when he said his participation in the 2021 inauguration was apolitical, and I think the same is true for Underwood. Furthermore, I don’t really care how far right or left either artist leans — the reality is, both singers probably go back and forth depending on the issue, or range somewhere in the middle.

Don’t we all?

An inauguration slot is a pretty good gig for a country artist, and this year Underwood will get to remind America why she’s a premium vocalist and performer. It couldn’t come at a more important time.

Did Carrie Underwood Vote for Donald Trump?

How you feel about Underwood singing at the inauguration likely depends on your politics, not hers. She’s never endorsed a candidate or really spoken on a political issue, so all we can do is jump to conclusions based on her music (“The Bullet” seemed pretty pro-gun control) and social media (but there was that one time she took target practice with a handgun).

After that, we’re just making lazy assumptions about who she is and where she comes from. That’s stereotyping — I mean, does her love of gardening make her “earthy”? Or is Carrie Underwood a doomsday prepper?

Or does she just need to get away from her kids for a few hours and the garden is a great sanctuary?

Underwood’s husband Mike Fisher has been more vocal about his conservative values, but the country star is most certainly her own woman.

The number of country singers who are extremely far left or extremely far right is exaggerated. Jason Aldean once said artists thanked him for speaking to his political beliefs, because the community at large is afraid, but it’s not like a waterfall of discourse followed. The same people who talked politics have continued to talk politics, and those who didn’t, don’t.

No offense to John Rich, but you’re not a “sissy boy” if you don’t outwardly support Donald Trump or any politician. You’re just busy.

Honestly, I think God, family, careers and the next great country song are probably more top-of-mind than immigration reform for most big country singers.

And maybe you, too?

The most critical response to Underwood’s upcoming performance attempts to draw her with a MAGA hat on. She knew that was coming, and her business partners knew that was coming.

ABC and American Idol knew that was coming, too. I’ve never met an artist more intentional and organized than Underwood and feel confident in assuming she considered the response in taking this gig.

In March, she’ll appear on TV as a judge for the first time. New music, awards show performances and high-profile interviews could follow. The inauguration performance is going to be a top-of-list question for every journalist in the coming months, and she knows this.

Her “unity” response feels cliche, but what if it works? Try to remember who we’re talking about here — Carrie Underwood singing “America the Beautiful” could be every bit as stirring as Chris Stapleton singing the National Anthem ahead of the Super Bowl. There’s the potential for a generational performance that shuts up online trolls.

It has happened before with this very song. Forty years and one day before Underwood’s moment, Ray Charles gave a goosebump-inducing performance of “America the Beautiful” to help usher in Ronald Reagan for a second term. It was a bit of an encore to his performance at the Republican National Convention a few months prior.

Who won’t get behind something like this?

Self-Promotional Social Media Moment of the Week:

Koe Wetzel just scored his first No. 1 hit with “High Road,” his duet with Jessie Murph. We asked him who came up with the “s–t show” lyric and his response was, umm … honest?

Future of Country Music

Cody Johnson and Kelsea Ballerini will begin their 2025 tours this week. I’d also expect country artists to be announced for FireAid, the L.A. fire benefit relief concert that is starting to be put together. We may even start our own benefit — after all, nobody does the give-back quite like Nashville.

Musically, Canaan Smith has an album called Chickahominy that drops on Jan. 24. I’ve always liked Canaan’s wild energy and found him to be an intensely deep songwriter, too.

Kane Brown‘s The High Road album also drops next Friday. It features a Jelly Roll collaboration that’s every bit as powerful as you want it to be. Expect Kane to be a featured artist on ToC next week. His visit with Evan Paul was enlightening.

Country Artists Who Will Be a Part of the 2025 Presidential Inauguration