Chase Rice is speaking out after he was criticized on social media by Kelsea Ballerini, Mickey Guyton and others, for performing a live show during the coronavirus pandemic. Chase posted a video and picture on his Instagram Stories, which seemed to indicate that fans were neither wearing facial masks nor practicing social distancing during his performance.
“I just want to address my show Saturday night,” Chase began in a video posted on social media. “For those who don’t know, I had a show in east Tennessee. I took a video of the concert. Everybody had a blast, but then, once I posted the video, a lot of people seen that online, had a big problem with how the show looked, how the show went down.
“And I understand there’s a lot of different opinions, a lot of varied opinions on COVID-19, how it works with live music, how it works with crowds, and what that looks like,” he continued. “My biggest thing is y’all. 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.”
Posted by Chase Rice on Monday, June 29, 2020
While Chase didn’t exactly apologize for his decision regarding his recent concert, he did hint he would make some changes with his shows in the future.
“Moving forward, I have a show in Ashland, Kentucky, on Friday, and it’s a drive-in show,” Chase said. “Take your trucks, take your cars, and you have your own space. You can get out of your trucks, you can get out of your cars and party with me. Please do, sing the songs, but stay in your own space. Stay with the people you came with. And the biggest thing is, the safer we are now, the quicker we get to normal live shows, which I know we all want.
“Thank you guys for understanding,” he concluded. “Please go by the rules, please go by the laws on this Friday show coming up, and the shows moving forward, so we can get back to regular shows soon enough. Love you guys. God bless you, and God bless country music.”
Kelsea spoke out after the video surfaced of Chase’s concert, saying, “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. [Chase Rice], We all want (and need) to tour. We just care about our fans and their families enough to wait.”
Mickey also spoke out, saying, “I’m shaking I’m so livid. He doesn’t give a sh– about anyone or anything but his pocket book and that is clear in this video,” she posted, later adding, “I’m disgusted. Shame on him for putting people at risk.”
Chase’s concert was held at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. Owner Brian May says they are looking into the event.
