2024 Rose Parade: Straight No Chaser to perform aboard Illinois float paying tribute to Route 66
The music parade continues for the 2024 Tournament of Roses.
Organizers of the giant Jan. 1 Pasadena spectacle on Monday, Dec. 18, announced yet another group of performers who will be providing the live sound track to the middle portion of the parade as they rock it along the 5.5-mile Rose Parade route.
Straight No Chaser, the RIAA-Certified Gold a cappella group known for its array of reinterpretations of popular tunes, will sing those tunes aboard the Enjoy Illinois float: “Illinois – The Middle of Beats & Blues.”
In effect, the group will be performing live in front of nearly a million people along the route alone. So it’s a chance for the group – which formed at Indiana University only to emerge at the leading edge of the modern a cappella genre — to do it’s thing in front of a sizable audience.
It’ll be fitting, since the 135th Rose Parade on Jan. 1 is themed “Celebrating a World of Music: The Universal Language,” a theme personified by the parade’s Grand Marshal Audra McDonald, an icon in the performing arts.
The group is performing in the midst of a tour of more than 50 cities across the U.S. with multiple sold out shows, including a record-breaking run in Indianapolis. The group last month put out “Stocking Stuffer,” their latest EP of holiday originals and favorites.
If you’re getting a Midwest vibe here, you are spot on.
Their moving stage, the Enjoy Illinois float, is meant to be a tribute to U.S. Route 66, which connects Chicago to Santa Monica, including Colorado Boulevard, in Pasadena.
Enjoy Illinois is part of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
If this is all sounding a little familiar, it’s because last week, another “mid-parade” performance was announced, but courtesy of Louisiana.
The “Explore Louisiana” float, the third year the state of Louisiana’s official travel authority has presented a musical showcase, will be the stage for Grammy-nominated Zydeco star Sean Ardoin, Cajun fiddler Amanda Shaw, and the legendary guitarist James Burton (that’s right, the James Burton who among his Rock Hall of Fame accomplishments performed with Elvis Presley live for several years).
Seeing a pattern here? Midwest. South. Turns out, there’s yet to be one more “mid-parade” performance announcement, so stay tuned for more on that, organizers said.
Already, there’s a pretty star-studded opening performance for the procession.
Destiny’s Child icon Michelle Williams and “The Voice” champion Cassadee Pope will be joined by “American Idol” alum David Archuleta and Los Angeles singer/songwriter/producer Rush Davis, to perform an ensemble set alongside the Honda float themed “Keep Dreaming.”
And the music will just keep coming. There will be grand finale performer, but the Tournament has not yet announced. That’s coming soon.
For now, let the a cappella sink in.
“Like so many people around the country, we grew up watching the parade every New Year’s Day,” said Straight No Chaser member Randy Stine, who was born and raised in Illinois. “What a dream come true it is to be a part of such an iconic event.”