Katy Perry and the Black Eyed Peas are set to headline Rock the Vote’s first event of its Democracy Summer campaign for 2020: a two-hour virtual concert taking place on Thursday, June 18th beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET, on democracysummer.org and Democracy Summer’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
Co-hosted by Logan Browning and Rosario Dawson, the election year event will also feature performances from Ne-Yo, Big Freedia, Lucy Hale, Amara La Negra, Saweetie, Sklyar Astin, Max, Leslie Grace, Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Rich Brian and Michael K. Williams. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Cory Booker and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro will also make appearances.
“I’m excited to be a part of this kickoff to Democracy Summer 2020 with so many amazing talents, activists and speakers,” Perry said in a statement. “The young people of America are speaking loud and clear on the streets and online, and come November, it will be more important than ever to fight for justice and equality, and against systemic racism, with our ballots.”
The concert marks the first livestream event hosted by Rock the Vote since it was founded in 1990 by Virgin Records America co-chairman Jeff Ayeroff to increase voter turnout among young adults. Although the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted in-person voting efforts across the country, the protests surrounding the police killing of George Floyd have mobilized young voters, with over 100,000 new voters registering via Rock the Vote the week of June 1st.
