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The Roots, Miguel, and Jennifer Nettles playing in Philly July 4

Until now, singer-songwriter Miguel may have been best known for his failed leap across the stage at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards - crashing into a fan, who recently sued to help cover her medical bills.

Miguel performs at Made In America 2013 in Philadelphia, PA. ( Colin Kerrigan / Philly.com )
Miguel performs at Made In America 2013 in Philadelphia, PA. ( Colin Kerrigan / Philly.com )Read more

Until now, singer-songwriter Miguel may have been best known for his failed leap across the stage at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards - crashing into a fan, who recently sued to help cover her medical bills.

His July 4 appearance in Philadelphia promises to provide a softer landing.

On Tuesday, Miguel was announced as one of the three headliners for the Wawa Welcome America! celebration, a week of independence-fueled events that culminate in the big concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Miguel will join country star Jennifer Nettles and the Roots, who have become the event's unofficial house band.

Miguel's single "Adorn" became a No. 1 hit on the R&B charts in 2012, and the album it came from, Kaleidoscope Dream, was nominated for a Grammy Award as best urban contemporary album.

Nettles is best known as lead singer of the platinum-selling and Grammy-winning country duo Sugarland. She released her first solo album, That Girl, last year. She won two Grammys as a member of Sugarland.

Mayor Nutter, Wawa vice chairman Howard Stoeckel, and the Wawa goose mascot gathered at the African American Museum in Center City on Tuesday to announce plans for the sixth Wawa celebration.

"The show is getting bigger and better every year," said City Representative Desiree Peterkin-Bell, who also serves as executive director of Welcome America! Inc.

Welcome America! officials say they are seeking to include additional performers, but cannot say at this time whether those acts will be announced in advance or will walk on stage as surprise special guests.

Last year, controversy arose when performers Nicki Minaj, Marlon Wayans, and others uttered numerous expletives, leading TV station 6ABC to cut to a slide of the station's logo.

Nutter promised afterward that the city would work to make the next Welcome America! concert more family-friendly.

Peterkin-Bell said she would soon announce news of a major online partnership. And she noted that this year's celebration falls during the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, the 50th anniversary of the city's first gay-rights protests, and the 150th anniversary of the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery.

Welcome America! begins June 27 and continues through July 4. Activities include free admission to the Franklin Institute, the Philadelphia History Museum, the African American Museum, and the National Constitution Center.

The movie Rocky will be shown on the Art Museum steps, and the creepy classic The Sixth Sense at Rittenhouse Park. Other films will screen at other locations.

This year's celebration will include what Nutter called "Pogo-palooza," an extreme pogo-stick competition.

The city has put on July 4 celebrations under the name Welcome America! since the early 1990s, and for even longer under other names, such as the Philadelphia Freedom Festival.

The concert and after-show fireworks constitute the celebration's highlight, drawing about 100,000 people to the Parkway.