The 'Eyes on You' crooner has come under fire for performing in front of live crowd, who appeared to stand shoulder-to-shoulder without masks, at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Tennessee.
- Jun 30, 2020
AceShowbiz - Chase Rice has broken his silence over his heavily criticized Tennessee concert. Two days after drawing backlash for performing in front of live crowd that appeared to ignore the social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic, the "Eyes on You" hitmaker addressed the controversy and informed fans about his plans moving forward.
"I just wanted to address my show Saturday night," the 34-year-old said in an Instagram video he posted on Monday, June 29. "I took a video of the concert, everybody had a blast, but then once I posted the video, a lot of people seeing that online had a big problem with how the show looked, how the show went down."
"I understand there's a lot of varying opinions, a lot of different opinions on COVID-19, how it works with live music crowds and what all that looks like," the country singer continued, before stressing that the safety of his fans are the most important thing for him. "Y'all are why I get to write songs, y'all are why I get to tour the country, why I get to do live shows and sing these songs to you guys and you guys sing them back."
Learning from the Saturday, June 27 concert, Rice announced that his live performance in Ashland, Kentucky on Friday, July 3 will be a drive-in show. "You can take your trucks, take your cars. You have your own space, you can get out of your cars, you can get out of your trucks and party with me," he explained.
"Please do, sing the songs but stay in your own space, stay with the people you came with," he pleaded. "And the biggest thing for all of us is the safer we are now, the quicker we get to actual normal live shows, which I know we all want. Thank you guys for understanding, please go by the rules, please go by the laws on this Friday show coming up and shows moving forward."
Rice came under fire after he shared footage from his jam-packed gig at at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros. Most of the thousands in attendance could be spotted not wearing protective masks, prompting health and safety concerns since COVID-19 is spiking in the state.
Among those voicing outrage at the safety negligence was fellow country singer Kelsea Ballerini. On Sunday, June 28, the "Peter Pan" hitmaker tweeted, "Imagine being selfish enough to put thousands of people's health at risk, not to mention the potential ripple effect, and play a NORMAL country concert right now. @ChaseRiceMusic, We all want (and need) to tour. We just care about our fans and their families enough to wait."
