America250 announces concert headliners, host

I love it.

Yeah, 10 years to plan, I like that. Get out ahead of it. This is, hey, this is my fifth administration. So if you count my time on the Treasury Federal Reserve transition team at the height of the financial crisis, my fifth one. Wow. Wow. OK well, yeah, you've seen some things, then, in your career. So we mentioned that the tickets are on sale today. They're just $17.76. You are also announcing some headliners. So what can folks expect? We are so thrilled to announce that headlining the America 250 benefit show in LA is Chris Stapleton, Smashing Pumpkins, and Queen Latifah as our host.

That's a good one. Amazing. What a great lineup. So we wanted to make sure that we have a kind of a broad spectrum of representation, different genres, different generations. And we couldn't be happier that it's coming together exactly as we envisioned.

So I'm probably the only one old enough to remember America 1976.

I remember.

So there was-- but what's so interesting, I've been thinking a lot about this because I remember as kids we all had these t-shirts that said "Spirit of '76," and it had the minutemen on my t-shirt that we wore proudly during that time. And I feel like it's so interesting now because we're in the age of social media, we've been talking a lot about social media. And so, if you recall, how do you think Americans' perception of what this celebration means has changed from our 200th birthday? Well, I was almost 11 years old. I remember July 4, 1976 like it was yesterday. It was a cloudy night in Hayward, California, but those fireworks were never brighter. I'm one of nine kids. My mom, who raised us as a single parent, sent all nine of us off to college. So for me, it was a very hopeful time. I felt like I had my whole future in front of me. And that's exactly what I'm working on, we're all working on for the 250th. Is my goal is to make as many Americans as possible feel like this is the land of opportunity all over again, exactly the way I felt.

I love that.

Just kind of jumping off of that, I mean, I know a lot of folks, it's very hard to talk about politics. And oftentimes, this idea of America is wrapped up in it. How do you think people are going to be able to celebrate this America 250 without bringing in the politics? What's your suggestion? Well look, this commission has been in place for a while. I've been on this commission eight years, four years as chair. And our secret sauce has really been focused on this values-based programming. We can't be all things to all Americans. We have something for every American. And especially focused on this next generation of leadership. So you're going to see a lot of our messaging is very kind of social impact related. It's how can we galvanize together as a country in service? Our country was founded in service. And so we've been hitting the ground running. Our commission has approved our programming unanimously since March of 2024. And it's been a great ride ever since. If I had to go back 18 years when I first entered the federal government, it's days like this, it's moments like this that make it all worthwhile. I'd do it all over again. We're very excited. We're going to be there celebrating in the nation's capital for America 250. Rosie Rios, it's so good to have you. And the lineup, I mean, every act I love. I've seen all three of those acts. --while I was grilling. I've seen all three of those people in concert, Stapleton, Smashing Pumpkins, I just interviewed Billy Corgan. And I love Queen Latifah. I've seen her perform. It's going to be great. I'm so excited. Thank you so much.

Thank you for coming. Appreciate it.