Oklahomans Prominently Featured In Music At Presidential Inauguration

Oklahoma was prominently featured in the music at the presidential inauguration, from Garth Brooks singing “Amazing Grace” to Jennifer Lopez singing Woody Guthrie’s famous “This Land is Your Land.”

People at Tulsa’s Woody Guthrie Center and OK POP Museum said Oklahoma’s art and culture should be celebrated.

An Oklahoma country music superstar asked people to sing Amazing Grace with him at the Presidential Inauguration Wednesday.

Brooks is an Oklahoma native and OSU graduate who once again, performed on a national stage.

"It's the incomparable Garth Brooks and his ability to bring joy into people's lives and bring people together," said Jeff Moore, OKPOP Executive Director.

The Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture, currently a construction zone, will be a museum going up right across from Cain's ballroom, which will celebrate Oklahomans who have contributed to popular culture.

Moore said music has a powerful way of bringing people together and that's what Wednesday’s inauguration performances meant to him.

"The message for a lot of Oklahoma creatives is, let's come together. We have diverse backgrounds, but let's come together and enjoy music,” Moore said.

Words sung by Jennifer Lopez today are written on the side of the Woody Guthrie Center in downtown Tulsa. "This Land is Your Land" was written by Woody Guthrie, another Native Oklahoman and folk music legend.

"We were in tears," said Deana McCloud, about Jennifer Lopez singing the famous song at the inauguration. "Right now is such a good time for sharing that message."

Woody Guthrie Center Executive director McCloud said Guthrie's message is the same today that it was decades ago, which is appreciating others and this land.

"We're here to share it, take care of each other," McCloud said.

OKPOP is set to open next year and so far, hundreds of Oklahomans have shared their stories with the museum to feature.