The 28-year-old half-Meican American singer will perform at the Pepsi Unmute Your Voice concert on Triller on Thursday, October 8 and Friday, October 9.
Lovato, who recently released the emotional ballad “Still Have Me,” joins a lineup that includes Chance the Rapper, Chloe x Halle, Saint Jhn, Brett Young and Ava Max.
The shows, slated to kick off at 8:00 pm ET both days, are a collaboration with Rock the Vote.
“I’m joining @triller & @pepsi for their #PepsiUnmuteYourVoice concert This election is SO important me to so get registered to vote with @RockTheVote and join me on 10/9 at 8pm EST on #Triller!!” Lovato tweeted. The concerts are the latest get out the vote effort in the run-up to the Nov. 3 election.
With less than 30 days to go before the election, artists from Taylor Swift to Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Frank Ocean, Billie Eilish, Katy Perry and Vanessa Hudgensare putting a full-court press on voter registration, joining existing campaigns and making personal pleas to exercise your constitutional right to pick the next President.
The 41-year-old Puerto Rican and Cuban American actress and activist will co-host Rock the Vote’s Democracy Summer campaign kick-off on Thursday, June 18, a two-hour virtual concert co-headlined by Katy Perry and Black Eyed Peas.
Co-hosted by Dawson and Logan Browning with Chuck D and Eve, the event will stream live beginning at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT on democracysummer.org, and Democracy Summer’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
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 are among those slated to appear remotely.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro will make appearances.
“I’m excited to be a part of this kickoff to Democracy Summer 2020 with so many amazing talents, activists and speakers,” says Perry. “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 young people are engaged. Their voices are loud and getting louder. The world is watching. And we need to vote,” agrees Chuck D, an early and consistent supporter of Rock the Vote, which was founded in 1990 by Virgin Records America co-chairman Jeff Ayeroff primarily to increase voter turnout among young adults.
“We are seeing the urgency for change in America happening in real time. This is the moment for us to use the most important tool on the planet to fight for that change…our right to vote,” says Ne-Yo. “Our democracy needs our voices. Voting is the moment to be the voice for injustice and for equality. But most importantly, to be the voice for humanity. We cannot let each other down in the local elections or on Nov. 3.”
Produced by BWG Live and in partnership with Voto Latino Foundation, When We All Vote and March For Our Lives, the concert marks not only the first live-streamed event for the Rock the Vote, but also its first large-scale summer activation.
In previous years the organization amped up in the fall before a Presidential election and typically staged a live event. Both pivots are a direct result of Covid-19.
“One of the realities is coronavirus derailed the momentum that is required in a major election cycle,” Rock the Vote president Carolyn DeWitt tells Billboard. “A few months ago we began seeing how the restrictions were affecting young people in particular, by moving them off college campuses and disrupting graduations and proms,” she says. “Our effort is really about building that momentum back up.”
With some 4 million young people turning 18 this year and innumerable issues at stake, the goal of Democracy Summer is to bring 200,000 new voters to the polls in November when Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden challenges Donald Trump, as well as myriad primary and local elections throughout the summer and fall. Those interested in the event are encouraged to register at the Democracy Summer web site to get the latest details and lineup updates, although preregistration isn’t required to tune in. Viewers can go to Rock the Vote’s website to register to vote.
The murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and the swell of support around the Black Lives Matter movement also has catalyzed Thursday’s event. As protesters around the country have taken to the streets, Rock the Vote registered 107,000 new voters through its platforms and gained more than 25,000 new Instagram followers during the week of June 1, DeWitt says—numbers that dwarf those of a typical week.
“With what we’ve seen over the last couple weeks, the effort around Democracy Summer has become even more important. It’s not just the virus, it’s bigger than the economy standing still. The world feels like it’s on the brink of chaos and yet this moment around Black Lives Matter is bigger than that,” DeWitt says. “Frankly speaking, a big part of that is people are exercising their rights in a democracy. Young people are looking for things they can do and actions they can take in order to create change. We want to make sure we’re continuing to sustain that fire and passion into November, and make sure young people know the power of their votes and create the change they want to see.”
The live stream will include opportunities for viewers to donate to black-led and -focused organizations including the Community Justice Action Fund and National Action Network.
“Now, more than ever, voting is key for long-term change,” Black Eyed Peas said in a statement. “The youth vote is going to decide the future of America. It’s not just our duty but our honor to spread the word in an election year.”
“The diversity of America is what makes it great, and it is also what makes it our country,” says La Negra. “I am Dominican proudly, yet I am a black woman always. I matter. You matter. And together, we will always matter!”
“The need for young people to get out and vote has never been more important,” says Participant CEO David Linde. “We are proud to be working with Rock the Vote in making that need a reality and by using the inspiring, powerful message of Rep. John Lewis to make good trouble.”
Rock the Vote is planning additional Democracy Summer activations throughout the summer including on the Fourth of July and on August 6, the anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The 32-year-old Honduran American actress has collaborate with fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff to create a special t-shirt aimed at inspiring women to vote in the 2016 presidential election.
Ferrera has been extremely vocal about the importance of getting out and voting, especially among millennials.
The shirt reads Make America Ferrera Again and it’s aim is to show everyone the impact their voices, especially during this important election.
The shirts are available at www.rebeccaminkoff.com and are available in stores in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The limited edition item retails for $48 and a portion of all the proceeds will go to Rock the Vote.
“It is important to show up for yourself and know, especially inside the Latino community, that we have so much power, we have so much potential that we could exercise by using our voices in the voting booth. And I think that when we show up and we decide to represent ourselves in the voting booth is when things will change for Latin American communities in the United States, so we need to show up for ourselves and exercise that power,” she has said before.
The 19-year-old Cuban singer and Fifth Harmony member is set to appear on MTV’s Total Registration Live, an hourlong live special aimed at rallying Millennials to register to vote, on National Voter Registration Day, Tuesday, September 27 at 6:00 pm.
Additionally, the special will include appearances by model and Rock The Vote spokesperson Kendall Jenner, director, producer and writer Joss Whedon, rapper Vic Mensa, actress Natalia Dyer, actor and singer Mack Wilds, among others.
MTV’s Nessa who will host. Also on-hand will be MTV News’ Senior Political Correspondent Ana Marie Cox and Senior National Correspondent Jamil Smith.
Guests will speak out on the issues at the center of the 2016 election and empower viewers to register to vote via MTV’s long-standing partner Rock The Vote at ElectThis.com, or by texting VOTEMTV to 384387 via a partnership with HelloVote, the first chatbot that allows voters to register over text message or Facebook Messenger in under a minute.
