--- description: Donald Trump's team explained why Kanye West, has not been asked to perform at the inauguration. title: Here's Why Kanye West Wasn't Asked to Perform at Donald Trump's Inauguration image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbd9898c15def76c/6988b2f47cdbacc950d56938/trump-kanye.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Donald Trump's Inauguration Chair Explains Why Kanye West Wasn't Asked to Perform by [Ashley Hoffman](/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 19, 2017 4:29 PM CUT  President-elect Donald Trump and Kanye West stand together in the lobby at Trump Tower, December 13, 2016 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump and Kanye West stand together in the lobby at Trump Tower, December 13, 2016 in New York City.Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 19, 2017 4:29 PM CUT Kanye West [made headlines](http://time.com/4599064/kanye-west-donald-trump-tower/ "undefined") when he met with President-elect Donald Trump in Trump tower in December, but he won’t be [among the performers](http://time.com/4634892/toby-keith-trump-inauguration-performers/ "undefined") at the [Inauguration](http://time.com/money/4637694/trump-inauguration-costs-obama-bush-performers/ "undefined"). Trump’s chair of his Presidential Inaugural Committee, Tom Barrack, said that the team did not invite the rapper to [perform at the inauguration](http://time.com/4609263/celebrities-on-donald-trump-inauguration-performance/ "undefined") during an interview on [CNN’s _Outfont_](http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/05/politics/trump-inauguration-performers/ "undefined"). “We haven’t asked him. He considers himself a friend of the president-elect, but it’s not the venue. The venue we have for entertainment is filled out, it’s perfect, it’s going to be typically and traditionally American, and Kanye is a great guy, but we just haven’t asked him to perform. We move on with our agenda,” he told CNN’s Erin Burnett. The rap star had [publicly endorsed Trump](http://fortune.com/2016/11/18/kanye-west-donald-trump/ "undefined") telling his audiences mid-concert, “If I would’ve voted, I would’ve voted \[for\] Trump,” and calling Trump’s campaign approach “absolutely genius.” Following their December meeting, Trump told reporters they were “Just friends. Just friends—and he’s a good man.” West later [said he met with Trump](http://time.com/4599983/kanye-west-donald-trump-meeting/ "undefined") with goal of discussing “multicultural issues.” The Rockettes, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Jackie Evancho, are scheduled to perform for the inaugural ceremonies, while Toby Keith, 3 Doors Down, Lee Greenwood are slated to appear at the kickoff event. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4639260/donald-trump-kanye-inauguration-performance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4639260/donald-trump-kanye-inauguration-performance/"},"headline":"Donald Trump's Inauguration Chair Explains Why Kanye West Wasn't Asked to Perform","datePublished":"2017-01-19T16:29:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:16.391Z","description":"\"Kanye is a great guy, but we just haven't asked him to perform\"","url":"https://time.com/4639260/donald-trump-kanye-inauguration-performance/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","Music","Kanye West","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbd9898c15def76c/6988b2f47cdbacc950d56938/trump-kanye.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbd9898c15def76c/6988b2f47cdbacc950d56938/trump-kanye.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President-Elect Donald Trump Holds Meetings At Trump Tower","caption":"President-Elect Donald Trump Holds Meetings At Trump Tower","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4639260/donald-trump-kanye-inauguration-performance/","name":"Donald Trump's Inauguration Chair Explains Why Kanye West Wasn't Asked to Perform"}}]}] ```