“As the evening progressed, it became clear that there would be no time for You’ve Got a Friend with cello and voices”: James Taylor apologizes to his fans after his performance was removed from the DNC program
James Taylor has apologized to his fans after his appearance at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was canceled on Monday night.
Taylor was scheduled to reprise his version of Carole King’s You’ve Got A Friend on cello and vocals, a performance that was supposed to round out the evening. However, the various speeches – including an emotional and memorable one from current President Joe Biden – caused the event to run over time and Taylor’s performance had to be cancelled.
The 76-year-old singer-songwriter apologized to his fans on Twitter/X yesterday. “It was exciting to see and hear so many speakers on the opening night of the Democratic Convention here in Chicago,” he wrote. “But as the evening progressed, it became clear that there would be no time for our ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ with cello and voices.”
He added: “Perhaps the organizers could not have foreseen the wild reaction from the United Center audience… Anyway, I am sorry to disappoint you. But it was a great and inspiring, all-American moment. We were honored to be a part of it.”
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Before Biden’s speech, Hillary Clinton, First Lady Jill Biden and Ashley Biden gave speeches, as did representatives from South Carolina, Maryland, Texas, New York, Kentucky, Georgia and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It is not yet known whether Taylor’s appearance could be postponed until later in the week.
Taylor was one of several artists scheduled to perform in support of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, including Mickey Guyton and Jason Isbell, who actually made it on stage. White House correspondent Christian Datoc later explained the reasons for Taylor’s cancellation on Twitter/X.
“Because of the thunderous applause that interrupted one speaker after another, we ended up skipping parts of our program to make sure we got to President Biden as quickly as possible so he could speak directly to the American people,” he said.
“We are proud of the electrifying atmosphere in our convention hall and proud that our convention showcases the broad and diverse coalition behind the Harris-Walz ticket on and offstage all week long.”
Taylor shouldn’t be too disappointed, though. He’s something of a regular at these events – this would have been the fifth consecutive Democratic convention he’d attended. And if he’s still around in 2028, there’s a good chance he’ll get an invitation to the next one.
“…But as the evening progressed, it became clear that there would be no time for our “You’ve Got a Friend” with cello and voices. Perhaps the organizers could not have anticipated the wild reaction from the United Center audience…” #JT #JamesTaylor #DNC #DNC2024 pic.twitter.com/B6LG7yxXaX20 August 2024
