Plot Synopsis

Each year since 2011, Philadelphia has hosted the PHILLY 4TH OF JULY JAM, celebrating Independence Day with fireworks immediately following the "Largest Free Concert in America." The annual concert and fireworks finale at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which draws more than 500,000 people each year, is the culmination of the week-long Wawa Welcome America celebration, for which The Roots' ?uestlove has been the Festival musical director. Before it was called the PHILLY 4TH OF JULY JAM, this event was previously known as: the Wawa Welcome America! Life, Liberty & You Concert (2010), where the Goo Goo Dolls headlined and The Roots opened; the Sunoco Welcome America Celebration (2009), with Sheryl Crow as the featured performer and Jeffrey Gaines and The Roots as opening acts; and the Sunoco Sweet Sounds of Liberty Concert & Fireworks (1993 - 2008), where John Legend performed in 2008, Hall & Oates took the stage in 2007, and Lionel Richie & Fantasia Barrino shared the spotlight in 2006. Since the event was renamed in 2011, The Roots have performed each year, along with a rotating roster of special musical guests, including: Earth Wind & Fire, Michael McDonald, Estelle, Sara Bareilles, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Boyz II Men in 2011; Naturally 7, Queen Latifah, Daryl Hall, Common, Joe and Nick Jonas, and Lauryn Hill in 2012; and Jill Scott, Demi Lovato, J. Cole, Grace Potter, John Mayer & Ne-Yo in 2013. Televised locally live on 6ABC each year, the event wasn't shown nationally until Palladia aired the 2011 PHILLY 4TH OF JULY JAM as a taped, one-hour special almost one year later on Saturday, June 30, 2012 at 9pm ET. A little more than one year after that broadcast, VH1 and Palladia were simulcast partners in 2013, presenting a live, national broadcast of the PHILLY 4TH OF JULY JAM for the first time ever on Thursday, July 4, 2013 and then again in 2014. In 2015, the concert was only televised locally on 6ABC.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 2015 PHILLY 4TH OF JULY JAM was televised locally by 6ABC on Saturday, July 4, 2015 from 7-11pm ET, featuring The Roots, with performances by Miguel, Jennifer Nettles, MKTO, Zella Day, Twin Ghost, and more.