The NFL Draft is taking place virtually this year, but the event won’t be without music — the NFL announced on Tuesday that the event will include performances from several artists including Luke Bryan, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, OneRepublic and H.E.R. The performances will be spread out across the three days of the draft with Bryan set to close out the event on Saturday, April 25.
Music Row reports that Bryan will be performing his hit “Play It Again” as part of Verizon’s #PayItForwardLIVE series. On April 16, Bryan performed a live concert for the series from his home that was available to listen to and stream on a number of different platforms. #PayItForwardLIVE aims to raise funds for fans’ local businesses by encouraging viewers to shop online, buy gift cards or order a meal. “When I heard about the Pay It Forward program Verizon was doing to support local small businesses I loved the idea of doing my part to help raise awareness for it,” Bryan said in a statement. “These are the people who wake up every day living out their dreams and passions and bringing them into our communities. Let’s all continue to do right, support each other and… Pay It Forward.”
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Clarkson wrote on Instagram that she will be performing her new single “I Dare You” during the 2020 Draft Preshow on Friday at 6 p.m. ET, which also happens to be her birthday. The track, which was released last week, took Clarkson over one year to complete and features five additional duets between The Voice coach and other singers in different languages. “It’s basically I dare you to love instead of fear, instead of hate, instead of wonder about something and actually people just engage with themselves again,” Clarkson said on the Today show. “And remember that we’re all a human race. Even though we’re from all different parts of the world and different religions, politics, whatever, you know at the end of the day we’re all the same human race. And I thought, ‘Wow, how ironic that we’re releasing this single in this time where we really are all connected.’”
Hudson will perform on Thursday while OneRepublic and H.E.R.’s performances will be part of Saturday’s show. The 2020 NFL Draft begins on Thursday and will be conducted virtually, with players, teams, analysts and other personnel appearing from their homes. The draft was originally scheduled to take place in Las Vegas but will now be held at satellite locations around the country.