Jay-Z Gets Out Vote for Obama; Boss Adds Shows

Thu., Oct. 2, 2008 4:11 AM PDT by

Jay-Z, Barack Obama Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMA Press; Paul Fenton / Zuma Press

Jay-Z is temporarily trading Beyoncé for Barack.

The hip-hop heavyweight announced he'll perform two free shows this weekend in Detroit and Miami as part of a voter-registration drive on behalf of the Democratic presidential nominee.

Saturday's concert will take place at Motor City's Cobo Arena; Sunday's show is at Miami's Bayfront Park.

The Blueprint MC, a fixture on Obama's iPod, is expected to encourage voters to register and vote for the Illinois senator on Nov. 4.

Michigan and Florida both have Oct. 6 registration deadlines. They also happen to be two of the key battleground states.

Separately, the Obama campaign announced today that Bruce Springsteen has signed on to play an acoustic concert Monday at Oestrike Stadium at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich.

Springsteen will also play get-out-the-vote gigs for Obama this weekend in two other important states. Saturday he will perform at a rally in Philadelphia and Sunday he will play Ohio State University.

"Sen. Obama speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music," Springsteen said, "a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit."

The Boss will also team with Billy Joel for their first-ever joint concert Oct. 15 at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on Oct. 15 as part of an Obama fundraiser.

(Originally published Oct. 1, 2008 at 3:12 p.m. PT.)

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