'YES THEY WILL!', Starry Lineup Set For Obama Inaugration Celebration

Variety is reporting that the inaugural team for Barack Obama has announced a huge and starry lineup of talent that will perform at an opening celebration at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, in a kickoff heavy in its mix of history and leading performance artists.

The A list roster includes a cross section of legends and luminaries: U2, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, Garth Brooks, Shakira, John Mellencamp, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Usher, James Taylor, will.i.am, Mary J. Blige, John Legend, Heather Headley and Jennifer Nettles.

In addition, Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington will read historical passages, with the Rev. Gene Robinson delivering the invocation reports Variety.

Titled "We Are One: The Obama Inauguration Celebration," the event will be shown exclusively on HBO, and is being produced by a team of heavy hitters: George Stevens Jr. is executive producer, Don Mischer is director-producer and Michael Stevens is writer-producer. Rob Mathes will be the music director and arranger for the backing band, which will support all the artists.

HBO will provide coverage of Inauguration Week starting with an exclusive program on Sunday, Jan. 18th, 2009.

HBO -- which was awarded the rights for an undisclosed sum -- is planning to offer the event free to cable and satellite subscribers, regardless of whether they have the pay channel or not. Both Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are scheduled to attend reports indicate.