John Fogerty is headlining PBS' annual July 4th celebration, A Capitol Fourth. This year's production, which is hosted by John Stamos and Vanessa Williams, “will feature new performances from iconic locations across the country, including Washington, D.C., New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, as well as highlights from the concert’s 40-year history and the stirring patriotic favorites viewers enjoy on the Fourth of July. ”
Along with Fogerty, the 2020 A Capitol Fourth will feature performances by Patti LaBelle, the Temptations, Renée Fleming, Trace Adkins, Andy Grammer, Yolanda Adams, Brantley Gilbert, Lauren Alaina, and Chrissy Metz. The show will air nationally on PBS affiliates on Saturday, July 4th, from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. ET.
Because of his lower middle class upbringing and his own military service in the U.S. Army Reserves, John Fogerty was able to take a long and hard look at how the was in Vietnam shaped a generation of Americans. He recently explained to us that when the muse and the groove come together — like it did for “Fortunate Son” — it's an almost otherworldly experience: “It was just the happiest of things that that first line was 'Some folks are born. . . ' — and then I said something. That gave me a way of accessing the next thought in the next verse. Where did that come from? I don't know. And I didn't know it was comin.' But, the fact that it did that afternoon when I did that, for 'Fortunate Son,' it meant that I was just flyin'! All the stuff just changed. That one took about 20 minutes.”
