On Friday, organizers announced that country music icon Toby Keith will be among the musicians who will perform at next week's Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration.
After the announcement was made by Donald Trump's Presidential Inaugural Committee it didn't take long for critics to needle the country music legend about his decision to perform at the inaugural festivities. But Keith, who has charted an astounding 61 singles on the Billboard country charts over the course of his career and has sold over 40 million albums worldwide, was equally quick to put the critics in their place, unapologetically defending his decision and demonstrating to the entertainment industry that he has no intention of kowtowing to their whims and demands.
Keith has performed for Republican and Democrat presidents
"I don't apologize for performing for our country or military," declared the 55-year-old singer to Entertainment Weekly, pointing out that he performed at events for both presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. In addition, Keith has performed over 200 shows for the men and women of the United States armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Keith's decision to perform at the Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration on January 19 adds a much needed shot in the arm to the inaugural festivities, which have been plagued by a shortage of star power due to the liberal trend of vilifying and threatening anyone who agrees to perform at the event -- such as Tony Award winner Jennifer Holliday.
Broadway performer pulls out after boycott threats
Holliday, who had been slated to perform at the event, withdrew her name on Saturday amid boycott threats and social media condemnation -- even though she openly supported Hillary Clinton in the election.
"How could I have this much hate spewing at me, and I haven't even done anything?" the Broadway performer asked, as reported on Saturday by the UK's Daily Mail. "I guess it's not like those old days when political views were your own and you had freedom of speech," she added.
