Chance the Rapper to perform at White House Christmas gig

Chance The Rapper and Kelly Clarkson are among the acts due to perform at the annual lighting of the White House Christmas tree.

The hip-hop star is set to make his White House debut performance at the National Christmas Tree Lighting in Washington, D.C. on 1 December (16). Clarkson and gospel star Yolanda Adams have performed at events for President Barack Obama before.

A free ticket lottery for the general public will begin on 7 October (16), and the show will be broadcast on the Hallmark Channel on 2 December (16).

Despite never performing for Obama and First Lady Michelle before, Chance has family links to the President, going back to when his father, a community organiser in Chicago, worked for Obama when he was an Illinois state senator.

The rapper was invited to meet with the President back in April (16) to discuss the administrations' My Brother's Keeper initiative, which offers boys and young men of color opportunities to find the skills they need to find a good job or go to college.

Obama also placed Chance's track Acid Rain on his summer playlist on Spotify.

In a recent interview with GQ, Chance revealed Obama even offered him some valuable career advice during the meeting.

"He brings me up to his office, and we had a really good conversation about what I was working on," Chance recalled. "He told me I needed to start selling my music. He's a good man. Even if he wasn't president, if his a*s worked at, like, (restaurant chain) Red Lobster, he'd be just a good man working at Red Lobster."

Former American Idol winner Clarkson sang My Country 'Tis of Thee at Obama's second presidential inauguration back in 2013, while Adams has appeared at White House In Performance events celebrating Ray Charles and the music of the Civil Rights movement.