By Jarrett Renshaw, Reuters
Bruce Springsteen performing at an event in New York City in 2021. Photo: AFP / Getty Images
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen will hold a concert and rally with former president Barack Obama in Atlanta and Philadelphia in the coming days as part of a series of get-out-the-vote events for Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign in battleground states, a senior campaign official said on Tuesday.
With early voting under way, the Harris campaign was betting these surrogate rallies would help drive enthusiasm and turn out voters in states that would decide November's tightly contested election between Democrat Harris and Republican rival Donald Trump.
The 75-year-old rock star is expected to play some of his most popular songs such as 'Born to Run' on Thursday in Atlanta in a campaign event with Harris and Obama. The event would mark the first time Harris and Obama had appeared together this campaign.
Barack Obama Photo: AFP / Ryan Collerd
On Monday, Springsteen would appear in Philadelphia with Obama, the senior campaign official said.
In 2016, Springsteen played a three-song set at a rally in front of 20,000 people at Philadelphia's Independence Hall for Democrat Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign on the eve of the election. In 2008, Springsteen played a seven-song set for tens of thousands of people on the city's Benjamin Franklin Parkway to encourage voter registration and rally for Obama's campaign.
In October, Springsteen announced his support for Harris and said she and her running mate Tim Walz have "a vision of this country that respects and includes everyone, regardless of class, religion, race, your political point of view or sexual identity, and they want to grow our economy in a way that benefits all".
Taylor Swift, Pink, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, and many other celebrities have endorsed Harris and Walz. Celebrities who endorsed Trump included Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock, Jason Aldean, Russell Brand, Amber Rose, among others.
-Reuters