Beyoncé to appear alongside Harris at Texas rally

Beyoncé will appear alongside Vice-President Kamala Harris at a rally in Texas on Friday, CBS News, the BBC's US news partner reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

The singer's appearance in her hometown of Houston will take place just 11 days before election day on 5 November.

Harris often plays Beyoncé's song Freedom at campaign events, but the singer has so far remained absent from the campaign trail.

Earlier this summer, rumours swirled that Beyoncé would make an appearance on behalf of Harris at August's Democratic National Convention, but she did not show.

Harris is scheduled to speak alongside Texas Democratic Senate candidate Colin Allred on Friday.

Country singer Willie Nelson and Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles, are also set to appear at the event.

Beyoncé has a long history of endorsing Democratic presidential candidates. In 2016 she performed alongside her husband Jay-Z at a rally for Hillary Clinton.

She has also backed other Democratic candidates including former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, President Joe Biden in 2020 and Beto O'Rourke when he was running for the Texas Senate seat in 2018.

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Harris has already earned the endorsement of other famous singers including Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Cher, Marc Anthony, Lizzo and Neil Young, as well dozens of actors and performers.

Former President Donald Trump has also received a number of endorsements from well-known personalities including Tesla founder Elon Musk, former Indycar driver Danica Patrick, actor Jon Voight, celebrity chef Paula Deen, former NFL star Brett Favre, actor Kelsey Grammar and singers Kid Rock and Kanye West.

Celebrity endorsements can often bring a new wave of support to a political candidate and can sometimes get people out to vote.

Ashley Spillane, the author of a Harvard Kennedy School study that looked into the impact of celebrities when it comes to voter registration told the BBC that celebrities are among the “most well-positioned members of society” when it comes to dealing with causes of voter apathy, such as “lack of information, lack of trust and lack of motivation”.

But celebrity endorsements are not always effective. Following Taylor Swift's endorsement of Harris, a Quinnipiac University poll from late September indicated that Swift’s endorsement of Harris made 9% of respondents “more enthusiastic” about her candidacy, while it made 13% “less enthusiastic”.