John Legend brought his emotional ballad “Never Break” to the 2020 Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC on Saturday (July 4).
Seated at the piano in a holiday-ready red suit, Legend crooned the Bigger Love track, which he also recently performed for the BET Awards.
He seemed to be solo until he got to the chorus of the song, when a choir — safely spaced apart — joined him on vocals.
Later in the show, Legend returned with “Glory.”
As part of that performance, he said: “Today as we celebrate July 4th, we have to recall that everyone wasn’t free at that time. Too many of our brothers and sisters were not free. The ideals that this nation stands for, we still don’t live up to. We have to keep fighting, keep marching, to get closer to freedom.”
“Keep marching with us,” Legend encouraged.
This year’s 4th of July TV special was based in New York City but featured musical performances filmed by artists around the country. Brad Paisley opened the show, which also had appearances by Lady A, The Killers, Tim McGraw and The Black Eyed Peas, plus national youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman.
An encore presentation airs at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
