Music
“We were honored to be there.”
Boston native James Taylor said Tuesday that his expected performance during the first night of the Democratic National Convention had to be cut for time as the evening ran more than an hour behind schedule.
Taylor was slated to sing “You’ve Got a Friend” on Monday night before President Joe Biden’s valedictory address, which was pushed late into the night as the event ran behind, according to the Associated Press.
In a statement, DNC officials pointed to the crowd response to the speaking program for the lag in the event’s schedule.
“Because of the raucous applause interrupting speaker after speaker, we ultimately skipped elements of our program to ensure we could get to President Biden as quickly as possible so that he could speak directly to the American people,” the statement, obtained by The New York Times, read.
Biden was greeted by a more than four-minute-long ovation when he took the stage, according to the Associated Press.
In a statement, Taylor said it was exciting to see speakers during the event in Chicago, noting that he and his fellow musicians had a “great rehearsal” before the evening began.
Susan Page, the Washington bureau chief of USA Today, shared a video of the musician’s rehearsal on X.
“It became clear, as the evening unfolded, that there wouldn’t be time for our “You’ve Got a Friend” with cello and voices,” Taylor said. “Maybe the organizers couldn’t anticipate the wild response from the floor of the United Center… Anyway, sorry to disappoint. But a great and inspirational, quintessentially American moment. We were honored to be there…”
Fans can catch Taylor performing in his hometown on Sep. 9 and 10 at MGM Music Hall at Fenway.
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