Lira.
Lerato Molapo, best known to her fans as Lira, who has been pursuing the US market for the past three years, was chosen from a shortlist of African musicians nominated to perform at the themed ball, which will be held in Washington DC on January 21.
Lira’s husband and manager Robin Kohl confirmed in an interview with City Press that Lira had landed the prestigious gig, which he described as “massive”.
“We have been plugging away at the US market for three years now. We have an independent distributor and a publicist in Los Angeles. We have been there about three months of every year and people are now getting to know who she is.”
He added: “This is an amazing opportunity. The ball will be televised by networks from all over the world. The exposure is massive. How many people can say that they have performed live for an African-American US president?
“We are ecstatic about this. We have really worked hard at breaking into the US market and now it seems to be paying off at last” said Kohl.
Fellow musicians, fans, and members of the media were quick to congratulate the singer on Twitter.
@thearrowssa: Huge congratulations to @Miss_LIRA for being chosen to represent SA at Obama's inauguration in 2013!
@somizi: I'm beaming wit pride as a friend and an African. @Miss_LIRA is gonna be performing at Pres Obama's inauguration in Jan. Wow Wow Wow Wow Wow
@ferialhaffajee: @City_Press on Sunday Lira to perform one of US president BarackObama's inauguration balls. Yay!!!
@_Dee_N_A: Wait……..wow Lira's gonna perform at Obama's inauguration. She's moving on up in the world. #proud