The star-packed lineup for the 97th edition of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been revealed, and among the famous artists who will be performing at the annual holiday extravaganza will be pop legend Cher and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Chicago.
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For the first time ever, the famous New York City event, taking place on November 23, will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET, a half-hour earlier than usual.
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Cher, who released her first holiday album, the aptly titled Christmas, last month, will be performing a song from the Yuletide collection on 34th Street, outside of Macy’s flagship department store. Christmas debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart and at No. 32 on the Billboard 200.
Chicago will be performing on a float called The Wondership sponsored by the Wonder Bread company. The veteran band will be promoting a new holiday release of their own, Chicago Greatest Christmas Hits, which is due out this Friday, November 3, and will gather together tracks from their three previous Christmas albums.
Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jon Baptiste will kick off the parade, which traditionally marks the beginning of the holiday season. Among the many other confirmed performers are Bell Biv DeVoe, Brandy, En Vogue, David Foster and wife Katharine McPhee, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, Pentatonix, and Alex Smith.
In addition, cast members from the Broadway shows & Juliet, Back to the Future: The Musical, Gutenberg! The Musical!, How to Dance in Ohio, Shucked, and Spamalot will perform, as will Sesame Street’s Muppets, joined by singer/actress Ashley Park.
The parade also will feature giant character balloons, a dozen marching bands from across the U.S., performance groups, and clowns, all leading up to an appearance of that jolly man with the red outfit and white beard, Santa Claus himself.
The 97th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will air and stream live from 8:30 a.m. to noon ET on NBC and Peacock. The festivities will be co-hosted by Today’s Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Al Roker.
(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage,)
