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The lineup for the Trump administration’s 250th anniversary celebration on the National Mall, “The Great American State Fair,” is falling apart just as soon as it was announced. At the time of this writing, 6 of 9 of the previously confirmed artists have said they will not be attending.
The Great American State Fair, a 16-day event that’s set to run from June 25 through July 10 on the National Mall in Washington D.C., was organized by Freedom 250 — a nonprofit led by Trump appointee Keith Krach — to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.
6 of the 9 previously announced performers at the “Great American State Fair” have cancelled their appearance at the gig
Earlier this week, the “first wave” of the musical lineup for the event was announced and largely consisted of D-list legacy acts from the 1980s and 1990s, such as Vanilla Ice, Flo Rida, Bret Michaels, Martina McBride, The Commodores, C+C Music Factory, Milli Vanilli, Morris Day & The Time, and Young MC.
The featured performers for The Great American State Fair on the National Mall:
-Vanilla Ice
-Martina McBride
-Young MC
-C+C Music Factory
-Milli Vanilli
-The Commodores
– Morris Day & The Time
– Flo Rida
-Bret Michaels pic.twitter.com/vpac5DiRRa— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) May 27, 2026
Less than two days after the lineup was announced, however, 66% of the performers have backed out, leaving only Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida on the docket (C+C Music Factory’s Freedom Williams had said he’d be bailing, but then reversed course while still distancing himself politically — he then posted a lengthy rant video on Instagram about the situation, which has since been deleted, thus making his status unclear.)
Not only are artists backing out in droves, but many of them are claiming they were misled about what the event actually was, with one of them, Milli Vanilli, even saying that they were never even asked to perform in the first place.
Singer Jodie Rocco, one of the original vocalists Milli Vanilli vocalists alongside her twin sister Linda Rocco, told the AP neither she nor any other member of the group had even been asked to perform.
“My sister and I were shocked to see our name, ‘Milli Vanilli,’ as one of the performers,” Rocco told AP in a statement.
Similarly, country singer McBride said on social media that she had agreed to perform after she “was assured this was a nonpartisan event.”
“Yesterday things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening,” McBride said.
— Martina McBride (@martinamcbride) May 29, 2026
“Contrary to rumor, Morris Day & The Time will not be performing at the ‘GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR,” Morris Day stated on social media.
“The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. And despite the claims by the organizers that the event is non-partisan, SPIN magazine describes it as Trump-backed,” rapper Young MC said in his own statement.
Bret Michaels of Poison fame became the latest artist to drop out and had a similarly bewildered response.
Perhaps most surprisingly of all, however, is that MAGA musical talisman Kid Rock has not yet been announced as a performer at the event.