Movie star, hip-hop legend and Philly native Will Smith closed out the “One Philly: Unity Concert for America” on July 4th. But the moment almost didn’t happen after the concert was delayed for several hours due to severe storms. According to Smith, it was Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker wh o told him to come back and perform. “Mayor holding it down. Listen, we was at the hotel. We was on our way home. She called and was like ‘uh uh, come on back out.’ Shoutout to Mrs. Mayor,” Smith told the crowd during his set. On Monday, Smith posted another video on his Instagram page in which he further discussed Parker telling him to still perform. “The mayor called and said would we come back and go on at midnight,” Smith said. “Come on man, this me. This me!” DJ Jazzy Jeff also posted to Instagram Monday and said how special it was to get out and perform despite the weather. He also thanked all involved. July 4th concert recap The concert, which celebrated America’s 250th birthday, took place on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday amid sweltering temperatures that had already cancelled other July 4th events across the Philadelphia region. Scheduled performers Infinity Song, Seal, Jordan Davis and Jill Scott all took the stage and the show – which aired on NBC10 – was running smoothly. That changed, however, when storms moved through the region, causing organizers to pause the concert as thousands of attendees evacuated the parkway. The delay began around 8:40 p.m. Saturday. At that point, scheduled performers the Roots, Kathy Sledge, State Property, Meek Mill, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Will Smith and Christina Aguilera had not yet performed. NBC10 switched to live news coverage as the delay continued for hours. Finally, shortly before midnight after the storms had passed, organizers confirmed that the concert would continue with a performance from the Roots that would be followed by fireworks. While organizers revealed that Christina Aguilera had dropped out, it was unknown at that time whether Will Smith, Kathy Sledge, State Property and Meek Mill would join the Roots as initially planned. Both Will Smith and Questlove of the Roots posted to their Instagram stories screenshots of NBC10’s report that the concert would continue. L to R: Screenshot of Will Smith’s Instagram story, Screenshot of Questlove’s Instagram story, Photo of Will Smith at the July 4th concert in Philadelphia. The Roots then took the stage around 12:40 a.m. on Sunday, July 5. After they performed for about 20 minutes, Kathy Sledge took the stage to perform a medley of hits from Sister Sledge, including “The Greatest Dancer” and “We Are Family.” Then State Property – featuring Philly rappers Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Peedi Crakk and the Young Gunz – took the stage to perform several songs, including the Philly hip-hop anthem “What We Do.” The Philly hip-hop theme continued as superstar rapper Meek Mill took the stage and brought the energy, performing several hits, including the “Dreams and Nightmares” intro.   Finally, the Fresh Prince took the stage with DJ Jazz Jeff to close out the concert with several hip-hop classics, including “Brand New Funk,” “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It,” the Fresh Prince theme song and “Summertime.” City addresses late fireworks show and upcoming event After Will Smith closed out the concert, fireworks lit up the sky above the Philadelphia Museum of Art. At that point, it was around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 5. Managing Director Adam Thiel spoke with NBC10 about the decision to set off the fireworks overnight. “This was no ordinary July 4th weekend. This was America 250,” Thiel said. “Truly a once in a generation experience. Once those fireworks are in the tubes, they have to go. And weather was a concern until after midnight. While the city’s July 4th festivities and World Cup matches at Lincoln Financial Field have ended, Philadelphia is now looking ahead to the next big event this summer: the MLB All-Star Game and all the festivities leading up to it at Citizens Bank Park and the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The FIFA Fan Fest at Lemon Hill also remains open throughout the entirety of the World Cup. Thiel talked about the challenge of preparing for yet another huge event. “It takes dedication. Look, I’m tired. Our folks have been working around the clock and are tired. 24/7. 365. We talk about that,” Thiel said. “It’s not just a tagline and thanks to them and their dedication and their expertise, we’re still going and we’re still pushing.” This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less