Beyonce to Perform at Obama’s Inauguration + Brandy & Maxwell Confirmed for Essence Festival

For a second time, Beyonce will perform at the Inauguration of President Obama, on Jan. 21. In addition to the Queen Bey’s presence, USA Today confirmed that James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson will also perform. James will perform ‘America the Beautiful’, Kelly will perform My Country, ‘Tis of Thee, while Beyonce will perform the national anthem. More announcements about entertainment at the inauguration are expected in coming days, while the Fab Empire (a local Washington, DC blogger) has released ‘An Insider’s Guide to Inauguration’. All this will take place during the public swearing-in ceremonies on the Capitol steps, when President Obama delivers his second inaugural address before a crowd likely to top more than 1 million.

And in other music news, The Essence Music Festival has already began to promote the line-up for their annual festival. Held in New Orleans every July 4th weekend,  (July 4-7), the Huffington Post confirmed that the confirmed roster thus far includes: Jill Scott, Maxwell, New Edition, Charlie Wilson, Keyshia Cole, LL Cool J and Brandy. Sweet! [Photo: Singers Room]