Andra Day to headline Times Square NYE show

The crowds may be MIA, but this year’s Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration promises to deliver the annual year-end staples: music and star power. And this year’s headliner is none other than San Diegan Andra Day.

The acclaimed singer-songwriter will perform her Grammy-nominated single “Rise Up” as well as “Forever Mine” before singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” — an annual tradition before the official ball drops from a f lag pole at the top of One Times Square.

Day was born in Edmonds, Wash., but it was in San Diego where she developed a passion for music, singing at First United Methodist Church in Chula Vista and eventually attending the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts.

The announcement was made Monday by Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment, the coorganizers of Times Square New Year’s Eve.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the live broadcast will be closed to the public, and musical acts will wear masks when they are not performing.

Hosted once again by “Mean Girls” star Jonathan Bennett, it will be broadcast live and commercial-free on the web — beginning at 6 p.m. — and a feed will be provided to TV networks across the globe.

This year’s virtual New Year’s Eve celebration will allow viewers to choose from multiple camera feeds.

Day will be joined by a star-studded lineup that includes Jennifer Lopez, Billy Porter, Cyndi Lauper, Jimmie Allen, Machine Gun Kelly — all of whom will perform on ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.” Anitta and Pitbull will perform on Univision’s “¡Feliz 2021!”

Other musical acts include Gloria Gaynor, who will perform “I Will Survive,” “Never Can Say Goodbye” and “Joy Comes In The Morning,” and the USO Show Troupe, set to perform “Empire State of Mind,” “Stars And Stripes” and “A Military Salute” to honor the Armed Forces.

The show will be streamed live on multiple websites, including TimesSquareNYC.org, NewYearsEve.nyc, Livestream.com/2021, and TimesSquareBall.net.