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The Roots team up with Michelle Obama for 13th annual The Roots Picnic

The Roots member Questlove arrives for the 62nd annual Grammy Awards on January 26. The Roots have joined Michelle Obama to stream their Roots Picnic event on YouTube. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
1 of 2 | The Roots member Questlove arrives for the 62nd annual Grammy Awards on January 26. The Roots have joined Michelle Obama to stream their Roots Picnic event on YouTube. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

June 16 (UPI) -- The Roots have partnered with former first lady Michelle Obama and her nonprofit organization, When We All Vote, to present the 13th annual Roots Picnic virtually on June 27 on YouTube.

Roots members Questlove and Black Thought will be hosting the event with Obama. The band and Obama hope to reach 500,000 eligible voters while presenting musical performances.

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The Roots, H.E.R., Roddy Ricch, Lil Baby, SZA, Kirk Franklin, Snoh Aalegra, Earthgang, G Herbo, Polo G, D Nice and Musiq Soulchild, backed by The Roots, will perform.

Lin Manuel Miranda, Chris Paul, Tom Hanks, Liza Koshy, Kerry Washington, Tracee Ellis Ross, Janelle Monae and Elaine Welteroth will make special appearances.

The annual Roots Picnic event, which features music and more at Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Historically, Questlove and Black Thought have always been very active participants in the voting process, however I felt that it was imperative that this year I open up both The Roots and my Live Nation Urban platforms for vehicles for both voter education and voter registration," Roots manger and President of Live Nation Urban Shawn Gee said in a statement.

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"Our goal is to aggressively impact change and we're going to have some fun while doing so. This year, we are incredibly proud to partner with Mrs. Obama's When We All Vote to ensure our audience has the resources they need to register and vote in November's election," he continued.

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