After three hours of cartoon balloons, dancers, and high school marching bands, Cher will close out the 97th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Nov. 23. Her appearance is scheduled for the end of the show, around the time of Santa’s arrival in his sleigh as the official shift into Christmas-mode begins.
Led by Jon Batiste, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET this year. It’s half an hour earlier than the event usually begins, but it helps to fit in all of the appearances from ENHYPEN, Brandy, Bell Biv DeVoe, Pentatonix, Chicago, En Vogue, David Foster and Katharine McPhee, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, Ashley Park, Jesse James Decker, Paul Russell, Amanda Shaw and Alex Smith, Manuel Turizo, and more.
The performance — and the giant “Believe” sign that lights up on the 34th Street Macy’s location in New York — couldn’t have come at a better time for Cher. The 25th anniversary of Believe, her 1998 Euro disco album, was last week. On Friday, Nov. 3, the singer will release the 25th anniversary deluxe edition of the record, featuring over a dozen remastered remixes.
Cher has already been giving herself over to the holiday spirit for a few weeks now. On Oct. 20, she released her first-ever holiday album, Christmas. The 13-track album featured four original singles — including a collaboration with Tyga — and new renditions of holiday classics, including “Santa Baby,” “Run Rudolph Run,” and “Please Come Home For Christmas.”
“They’re not ‘Christmas Christmas’ songs, OK, they’re just great songs,” Cher recently told Billboard. “And I never say that because I almost never like what I do. But I mean people love it and I’m happy. I’m so particular, but I love the songs and everyone who hears them loves them.”
