5 Best Moments of the 2024 Democratic National Convention: Stevie Wonder, Country Music & More

From its deep musical and cultural roots to its position as the definitive urban stronghold of the Midwest, Chicago is a powerhouse of a city. All of the primetime DNC performers hailed from the States, but just one could lay claim to Chi-Town: Common.

The Oscar and Grammy-winning rapper performed “Fortunate,” a cut from his new joint album with Pete Rock, complete with lyrics tailored for the occasion. In between shouting out Harris and Walz, Common’s performance highlighted the soul and hip-hop that ground Chicago’s sonic profile, while also playing on the campaign’s overarching theme of hope and joy. Arguably, Kanye “Ye” West has been the artist most closely associated with Chicago for the past two decades or so, and given the “Stronger” rapper’s recent political journey, his absence from the week’s playlist wasn’t that surprising. Nonetheless, Common’s performance offered Chicago a chance to bask in the spotlight and be recognized beyond their position as the convention’s host city.

“We must keep on keeping on until we are truly a united people of these United States and then we will reach a higher ground,” Wonder said before launching into a spirited rendition of his beloved classic “Higher Ground.” And that’s exactly where he took the 2024 Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night (Aug. 21).

Not only was Wonder’s address both measured and inspirational, but hearing him effortlessly smash such an uplifting song was a beautiful reminder that he truly is the most important American musician that we still have with us. His voice rang across United Center with sincerity and conviction, transforming his pleas for civic action into a brief moment of musical catharsis for both himself and the crowd. There were a lot of unity-driven messages throughout the week, but few can deliver that kind of message with the gravity and believability of one of the greatest musicians to ever walk this Earth. In fact, Wonder’s performance was the only one that the crowd so obviously wanted to continue. Did we mention how great his voice still sounds after so many decades?

In between the lively speeches and poignant performances, DJ Metro and the house band kept the party going. Across the convention’s four days, both Metro and the band opted for a mixture of classics (Kool & The Gang‘s “Celebrate” and Rufus‘ “Tell Me Something Good”) and contemporary smashes (Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” and Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars‘ “Uptown Funk!”) to keep the crowd’s spirits high and continue to hammer the campaign’s themes of freedom and joy. All those fun jumbotron clips didn’t fall out of a coconut tree! They happened due, in large part, to the consistency of the music during the convention’s transitionary moments.

Of course, the real playlist flex came courtesy of DJ Cassidy, who helped emcee a particularly lively roll call that featured a surprise cameo from Lil Jon and state-defining songs from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Chappell Roan, Aretha Franklin and Noah Kahan. Click here for a list of all the songs played during roll call and their Hot 100 peaks.

Check out a playlist of all the songs Billboard heard on the ground at the 2024 DNC here:

On the final night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, a pesky little rumor became the night’s most anticipated moment. A few tweets from blue-checked X accounts turned into legitimate reports that the DNC had some major surprises in store, one of which would almost certainly be a Beyoncé appearance or performance.

After all, given Queen Bey’s lengthy history with supporting Democrats during presidential election cycles, it wasn’t far-fetched. She sang at Obama’s Inaugural Ball in 2009, performed the National Anthem at his 2013 Inauguration, played “Formation” at a rally for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and took to Instagram to throw her support behind Biden and Harris in 2020. What’s more? Beyoncé also permitted Harris to use “Freedom” — her powerful 2016 collaboration with Kendrick Lamar — as her campaign’s official song.

Despite the ever-growing rumors, no such surprise materialized by the end of the night, and certainly not a Beyoncé-sized surprise. Although most of the arena was expecting an appearance from either Beyoncé or Taylor Swift, the disappointment at their absence was barely discernible. All else dimmed in comparison to the arena’s fervor for Vice President Harris on her history-making night. If anyone still needed proof that people are energized about Harris, it was laid bare for the world to see on Thursday night. Kamala Harris was her very own pop star moment.

“I ain’t come here to see Beyoncé,” proclaimed a woman on her way out of the arena following Harris’ acceptance speech. “I came to see Kamala!”

Generally, country music has long been associated with America’s more conservative pockets — and recent controversial Hot 100 chart-toppers like Jason Aldean‘s “Try That In A Small Town” have only exacerbated that dynamic. 2024 has seen the country music boom of the early 2020s reach a fever pitch, with two of the era’s biggest pop stars — Beyoncé and Post Malone — dropping full-fledged country LPs. In addition to Shaboozey‘s historic breakout hit “A Bar Song” enrapturing the country for weeks on end, more pop-oriented acts like Sabrina Carpenter (“Please Please Please”) and Dasha (“Austin”) have ridden the country wave to chart hits.

As such, it was no surprise to see the DNC stake its own claim in the country music bonanza, opting to highlight fringe country artists who often operate on the sidelines of the genre’s mainstream for a variety of reasons. Mickey Guyton, the first Black woman to earn a Grammy nomination for best country solo performance, delivered a winning performance of “All American,” while Maren Morris, a Grammy-winning country star who recently (and somewhat controversially) left the genre, performed a forward-looking country-tinged track in “Better Than We Found It.” Jason Isbell operates more on the Americana side, but he’s country-coded enough to fit in this category as well. And then there were The Chicks, this century’s greatest country music disruptors who famously condemned former President George W. Bush over his handling of the Iraq War. The Billboard 200-topping trio was the perfect choice for a legacy country act because of their history of breaking line with Republicans in the American genre, perhaps, most overtly tied to that party.