Let's file this performance under things you won't see at the Republican National Convention.
Billy Porter, the trailblazing and iconic openly gay performer closed out day one of the virtual Democratic National Convention with the searing 1966 protest song, "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey, What's That Sound)." And in usual Porter fashion, the Emmy and Tony Award winner sashayed across the screen in what Mashable writer Caitlin Welsh described as a "Hamilton-themed Drag Race runway maxi challenge."
"Those pipes, the dance moves, and the drama of his incredible outfit: A puffy shirt, suede thigh-high boots, and high-collared vest that lengthens into a dramatic floor-length split train with an enormous trailing back bow.
What's that sound? It's a Black queer icon strutting into the Democratic National Convention and singing so hard he sweats through the puffy sleeves of his Gay Founding Father couture only to be talked over by dudes who look like Brian Williams and Jake Tapper."
Stephen Stills, who wrote the song in 1966, joined Porter remotely to play his iconic two-note guitar riff, but like he told Variety, it was all Porter's show, against a literal and cultural backdrop of protest signs, Black Lives Matter demonstrations, and rippling stars and stripes.
Watch Billy Porter's DNC performance in the clip below:
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