Christina Aguilera, Jill Scott, and The Roots will headline the ‘One Philly: Unity Concert for America’ on the Ben Franklin Parkway on July 4

The lineup for the July 4 concert, celebrating America’s 250th birthday on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, has arrived.

“One Philly: Unity Concert for America” will feature headliner Christina Aguilera, Jill Scott, and The Roots. They will be joined by Will Smith & DJ Jazzy Jeff, Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge fame, and State Property, the Philly hip-hop collective that includes Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Peedi Crakk, and Chris and Neff.

Along with that group of Pennsylvanians — Aguilera grew up outside Pittsburgh — two other musical acts are on the bill: British “Kiss From a Rose” singer Seal, and Infinity Song, the Detroit-born soft-rock and soul family band of Abraham, Angel, Israel, and Momo Boyd.

Podcasters Gillie Da King and Wallo267 are also scheduled to appear. Part-time Media resident Wanda Sykes will host the six-hour show, which is being billed as “the nation’s largest free concert and biggest celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.”

Doors to the concert will open at 3 p.m., and the music is scheduled to run from 5 p.m. to just before midnight, with a fireworks finale to follow.

The “One Philly: Unity Concert for America” is presented by the City of Philadelphia, and produced by Center City-based ESM Productions, with executive producers Scott Mirkin, Shawn Gee (The Roots’ manager and head of Live Nation Urban), and Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.

Wawa is a sponsor of the concert, but the show is not part of Wawa Welcome America, the weekslong series of events leading up to the July 4 holiday, which this year will include concerts with Queen Latifah, Eve, Idina Menzel, and Pink Sweat$, among others.

“Our Fourth of July concert is a historic homecoming for many of our city’s brightest stars,” Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said in a statement.

“By uniting the vision of our mayor’s office and so many other city leaders, the global broadcast and production of Scott Mirkin, and the unmatched musical legacy of The Roots and Live Nation Urban, the ”One Philly: Unity Concert for America” will celebrate the soul of Philadelphia and the spirit of our nation on a truly global scale. There is no place to be other than Philly on July 4."

The news release announcing the event says that the concert “is designed as a nonpartisan celebration of unity, diversity, and democracy — bringing together voices, perspectives, and performances that reflect the richness of the American experience across generations and genres.”

Among the Philly artists having a homecoming will be Smith, the rapper and actor who made his name with his deejay partner Jeffrey Townes with a series of playful hip-hop hits in the late 1980s and early ’90s, with songs like “Parents Just Don’t Understand” and “Summertime.”

They last performed together as DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince in 2023. For their “One Philly: Unity Concert” with The Roots, their moniker has notably been flipped and their brand tweaked.

The duo is now calling itself Will Smith & DJ Jazzy Jeff. Smith has been on the comeback trail for years following his infamous slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscar ceremony.

The “One Philly: Unity Concert” will cap a big summer in Philly for The Roots, which will bring its Roots Picnic to Belmont Plateau for the first time on May 30 and 31 with headliners Jaÿ-Z and Erykah Badu.

During the eight years of former Mayor Michael Nutter’s administration, ending in 2016, The Roots hosted the July 4 concert on the Parkway every year, a tradition that ended during the tenure of Mayor Jim Kenney. “It’s a bummer,” rapper Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter told The Inquirer in 2017. “Hopefully, we’ll make a grand return at some point.”

Details about transportation to the concert and information on how it will be broadcast and streamed will be announced in the coming weeks. More acts are also expected to be announced.