Amidst a mass surge in coronavirus cases in the United States, country musician Chase Rice held a concert without requiring masks for the punters, nor ensuring socially distancing was in order, and now he’s receiving a bit of hate for the risky move.
Over the weekend, country musician, and previous Bachelor contestant Chase Rice held a concert in Tennessee where punters were shoulder to shoulder, singing and dancing along as if the United States didn’t have an ever climbing total of 2.64 million coronavirus cases nation wide.
Following photos and videos being posted to social media, many were outraged around the globe at this blatant lack of concern for the health of others. From articles posted worldwide, to country musicians calling him out, it hasn’t been a pretty fight.
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. 🤷🏼♀️ https://t.co/eJaLnGu28k
— Kelsea Ballerini (@KelseaBallerini) June 28, 2020
Additionally copping some heat from fellow musicians, Chase Rice took to Instagram to shine some light on the controversy, responding to the backlash he’s received.
“What’s up y’all,” Rice began. “I just want to address my show Saturday night. For those of you who don’t know, I had a show in East Tennessee, 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.
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“I understand there’s a lot of varying opinions, a lot of different opinions on COVID-19 and how that works with live music crowds, and what all that looks like.”
Continuing on, he notes that his biggest thing is his fans: “Y’all are why I get to write songs, 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. You guys are everything to me, so your safety is a huge, huge priority.”
In the spirit of moving forward, Rice noted that he has a future show in the works that is a drive-in concert, and encourages everyone to come, but follow the rules and stay socially distanced.
Check out Chase Rice addressing the controversy via Instagram:
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