Bruce, Beyonce, Madonna lead stars in Hillary’s last push

Top musicians from Bruce Springsteen to Beyonce also rallied behind Hillary Clinton as the US prepared to elect a new president Tuesday, adding A-list star power to a massive get-out-the-vote operation.

Mr Springsteen, one of the biggest concert attractions in the rock universe, warmed up an election eve rally last night in Philadelphia, where he hailed Ms Clinton for her “vision of an America where everyone counts.”

“Let’s all do our part so we can look back on 2016 and say we stood with Hillary Clinton on the right side of history,” Mr Springsteen told the roughly 40,000 people assembled near Independence Hall.

Mr Springsteen, who has long championed the US working class in song but avoided overt politics until 2004, charged that Republican candidate Donald Trump would “prioritise his own interests and ego before American democracy itself.”

The rally was the largest ever in Ms Clinton’s bid to be America’s first woman president.

Ms Springsteen was joined by fellow rocker Jon Bon Jovi as well as President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle.

Mr Bon Jovi later flew with Ms Clinton to another critical state, North Carolina, for a midnight rally with Lady Gaga, who urged civility after one of the most divisive elections in memory.

While US pop stars have long leaned to the left, the tilt toward Ms Clinton is unprecedented in a modern election, with Mr Trump virtually shunned by the music world.

The words “Madonna” and “concert” hardly conjure images of an intimate gathering, but on the eve of Election Day in the heart of Greenwich Village, that is what a few hundred people got. On Monday evening, the singer announced online a surprise concert in Washington Square Park in Manhattan with just enough time for fans to drop their forks, reroute their taxis and arrive to see her sashay onstage in a bomber jacket with fluorescent green sleeves and a winter hat sprinkled with stars.

Ms Madonna stood in the middle of the round fountain at the centre of the square, holding a red guitar and pledging her support for the Democratic presidential nominee. She welcomed everyone to “a surprise, impromptu rally for Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

And the crowd, which had been huddled around the edges of the fountain, leapt to its feet. She then broke into her song “Express Yourself,” modifying the lyrics to say, “Make her express herself.”

The Material Girl’s message was decidedly feminist and anti-Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

“Women are marginalized, Yorkers who had gotten texts while leaving work and volunteers for Clinton, many of them young women, who had spent the day calling and texting voters in battleground states. There were also some super fans. I literally stalked this for 48 hours,” said David Yontef, 46, who lives in Chelsea.