Gloria Gaynor to perform at Times Square New Year’s Eve

Updated: Dec 16, 2020 / 02:38 AM CST

FILE – Singer Gloria Gaynor attends the Angel Ball, hosted by Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research on Oct. 23, 2017, in New York. Gaynor will sing her anthem, “I Will Survive” during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square as a celebration of perseverance, honoring essential workers. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — The New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square will be a celebration of perseverance, honoring essential workers and featuring Gloria Gaynor singing her anthem, “I Will Survive,” organizers said Tuesday.

They had announced previously that the annual event will be virtual this year, with no public audience as in other years, and aimed at broadcast viewers.

The broadcasts that usually set up shop in Times Square will be there, including “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2021,” which will have a performance from Jennifer Lopez. Other performers include Cyndi Lauper and Billy Porter.

Organizers said they would be honoring essential workers as the “Heroes of 2020″ and designate a group of them as Special Guests, an annual tradition since the 1990s.

Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, said in a statement, “This year, it feels most appropriate to shine a spotlight on the individuals who are tirelessly leading our nation through hard times with unshakable strength, determination and poise.”