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Former U.S. president Barack Obama has organized a phalanx of superstars to perform at the grand opening of his new cultural centre.
Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, U2’s Bono and the Edge, Eddie Vedder and Bruce Springsteen are among the musicians scheduled to take the stage celebrating the opening of the Obama Presidential Center’s grand opening ceremony in Chicago’s South Side.
The livestreamed grand opening for the centre — housing a museum, library, and athletic arena including an NBA-regulation court — is scheduled for June 18 at noon ET, one day before it opens to the public on the U.S. federal holiday of Juneteenth.
U.S. President Donald Trump, however, will likely be absent. Earlier this year he dubbed the centre “Obama’s badly delayed, and tremendously over-budget, ‘library.'”
Much of Trump’s focus this summer has instead been on the administration’s broader Freedom 250 programming, meant to commemorate the country’s 250th birthday.
It included a White House-hosted Freedom 250 UFC event on Trump’s 80th birthday Sunday. Fighter Josh Hokit used his post-bout interview at that event to disparage Michelle Obama.
Such programming has prompted critics to accuse Trump of using presidential events and public spaces to promote his political brand, and his decision to label the celebration as a rally is likely to intensify that scrutiny.
Part of that confusion comes from Trump bypassing a congressionally created, bipartisan committee — America 250 — that was assigned a decade ago to honour the upcoming anniversary. The shift from that group to the Trump-led parallel committee, Freedom 250, has led to confusion.
Recently, several performers withdrew from the Great American State Fair, another anniversary event slated to run from June 25 to July 10, saying they did not realize how closely it was tied to Trump. Artists Bret Michaels, the Commodores, Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli, Young MC and Martina McBride all announced they were cancelling their appearances.
In an Instagram post, Michaels said the event, which he said was initially described to him as an opportunity to honour service men and women and other “hardworking Americans,” had “evolved into something much more divisive than what [he] agreed to be a part of.”
Performers still expected to appear include Flo Rida and Vanilla Ice — the only remaining acts of the nine initially scheduled to perform.
Trump then suggested the original concept of the event should be cancelled after “overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear” pulled out. Next, he said he would headline a kickoff rally on June 24 on the National Mall instead, calling himself the “Number One Attraction anywhere in the World.”
Meanwhile, America 250 is also moving ahead with its own celebrations — including the America’s Block Party concert on July 4, featuring performers the Smashing Pumpkins, Queen Latifah and Chris Stapleton.
The grand opening of Obama’s centre comes less than a week after the deadline a federal court gave to the Kennedy Center to remove Trump’s name from that building’s facade. The centre’s officials said earlier this week Trump’s name has been removed, though it’s currently still obscured by a tarp.
Named after the late Democrat president John F. Kennedy, Trump moved quickly to oust the institution’s leadership in January 2025 and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman. His name was added to the building soon after.
Competing for presidential spotlight
Speaking to CBC News, University College Cork lecturer on American history and politics Clodagh Harrington said the separate events and centres speak to a potential competition for the spotlight.
While the number or star power of those appearing at Obama or Trump’s events aren’t necessarily of grand importance, she said that they do speak to the Obamas’ respected global brand and “very high cultural legitimacy.”
That legitimacy is something that couldn’t necessarily be said about the Trumps — “and I’m not sure that that is going to change,” she added.
“I think Donald Trump has been staggeringly impactful — not least in his second term — but they don’t have that particular type of legitimacy that the Obamas do,” she said.
“It has always been quite effortless with the Obamas, and maybe that’s something that Donald Trump finds difficult to accept.”
Obama officials have nonetheless faced criticism for the centre’s size and aesthetic. “The building has an ominous presence, its mostly windowless heft recalling a menacing sci-fi headquarters,” wrote The Guardian’s Oliver Wainwright.
It was also critiqued for the decision not to have a National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) facility on site.
As many as 1 million people are expected to visit the center’s 20-acre campus each year, with highlights including a public library branch, an NBA-grade basketball court, a fruit and vegetable garden and a playground.
