Bruce Springsteen has been an outspoken critic of President-elect__ Donald Trump__. The country's most prominent Springsteen cover band, however, is not; the B Street Band was scheduled to play at Thursday's New Jersey State Society inaugural ball. They played the ball in 2009 and in 2013, at the beginning of each of President Barack Obama's terms, but now have changed their minds about celebrating the start of the Trump administration. In a statement released to the Springsteen fan site, Backstreets, the B Street Band said, essentially, that if Bruce wouldn't do it, they won't either:

With deepest apologies to our fans and the New Jersey Inaugural Ball committee, the B Street Band is withdrawing from performing at this year's inauguration Gala.

Our decision is based SOLELY on the respect and gratitude we have for Bruce and the E Street Band.

Bruce's music has been the foundation of our livelihood. The B Street Band would not exist without the talents of Bruce and our E Street brothers.

We are most grateful to these rock legends and look forward to many more years of emulating and performing the Forever Music, of Bruce Springsteen [sic].

In a Rolling Stone interview from last week, lead singer Will Forte (not the Last Man on Earth comedian) explained that they signed the contract to play at the gala in 2013, before any 2016 presidential campaigns were even announced. Forte called it “really just a New Jersey party.”

"We kind of fell into this and never saw it coming," he told Rolling Stone. "I'm only a small fry. I like publicity, but I didn't want this kind of publicity. The last time we had this much publicity is when we almost played the Craigslist Killer's wedding up in Boston."

This is another blow to the talent-challenged inauguration ceremonies, which begin Thursday night. Everyone from Celine Dion to Elton John to, confusingly, R. Kelly has declined an invite. Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, and Mormon Tabernacle Choir are among those scheduled to perform as of this writing.