Hard to get to Canada when you’re in jail in Dallas.
Rapper BigXthaPlug missed a headlining performance at a country music festival on Friday after being arrested earlier in the day on a slew of charges in his home state of Texas.
BigXthaPlug, whose real name is Xavier Landum, was arrested early Friday by the Allen Police Department on charges of driving while intoxicated, marijuana possession of less than 2 ounces, and unlawful possession of a firearm, and was taken to the Collin County Jail.
Unfortunately, he was scheduled to headline the Country Rising festival in Winnipeg, Canada later that evening, and was forced to miss his appearance.
The festival made the announcement Friday afternoon, saying that BigX was unable to make it due to a “personal emergency.”
And naturally, fans who had bought tickets specifically to see the Texas rapper weren’t happy about the last-minute cancellation:
“That is brutal! Came specifically for Big X! Where’s the refund?”
“I need the biggest, the largest refund asap”
The arrest, ironically, comes exactly one year after BigX was arrested in Dallas on misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana less than 2 ounces and unlawful possession of a firearm. That arrest last year came on the same day released his country-inspired album I Hope You’re Happy, which features collabs with several top country artists like Ella Langley, Jelly Roll, Shaboozey, Bailey Zimmerman and Luke Combs.
The Country Rising festival in Winnipeg continued on without their headliner, featuring performances from Corey Kent, Dylan Marlowe and Redferrin, but BigXthaPlug is also scheduled to headline the Iowa State Fair tonight, August 22, which has fans wondering whether he’ll be able to make that appearance.
A search of the Collin County Jail website shows that BigX doesn’t appear to still be behind bars, so maybe he’ll be able to make it to Iowa for tonight’s show.
Let’s just hope he’s not the one driving…
BigXthaPlug Headlined The Ryman Auditorium Last Year
Shaboozey educating other artists on the history of country music.
When it comes to historical venues in country music, there’s nowhere more important to the genre than the Ryman Auditorium.
Step inside the doors and you can feel the history in the building, a landmark that’s hosted the biggest legends in country music on its stage. It’s my favorite building in Nashville, a place that leaves me in awe every time I step inside and see the sun shining through its stained glass windows.
The building was constructed in the late 1800s by Thomas Ryman, a riverboat captain and saloon owner who wanted a place for the famous preacher Sam P. Jones to hold his revivals in Nashville. Named the Union Gospel Tabernacle, the historic building first opened its doors to worshipers in 1892 – before it even had a roof. Total construction costs were around $100,000, or almost $3 million in today’s money, and the Tabernacle held 6,000 people after the addition of a balcony. (The capacity was later reduced to 3,000 after a stage was added).
After Thomas Ryman passed away in 1904, Sam Jones proposed that the building be renamed in Ryman’s honor – something Ryman had resisted when it was first proposed.
The Ryman continued to host religious events after its namesake’s death, but it was also rented out for non-religious events as well so that it could remain open and operating. And one of those events was the Grand Ole Opry.
The Opry had bounced around from venue to venue after starting out in the studios of WSM, the radio station started by the National Life & Accident Insurance Company in an attempt to boost their insurance business. And in 1943, it was asked to leave its current home at the War Memorial Auditorium after rowdy crowds kept damaging the upholstered seats.
So when Opry management went looking for a new home, the Ryman – with its wooden benches that would be safe from destruction – was the perfect home.
The Ryman hosted its first Grand Ole Opry performance on June 5, 1943.
And for the next 31 years, the Opry continued to host the biggest names in all of country music from the Mother Church of Country Music – everyone from Hank Williams and Roy Acuff to Johnny Cash, George Jones and Loretta Lynn. Elvis even made his first – and only – appearance at the Grand Ole Opry on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium.
The Opry moved to its new home in 1974, leaving the Ryman largely vacant for the next two decades. There were plans to tear the building down, something that was even supported by Roy Acuff. But critics fiercely opposed its destruction, and the Ryman was ultimately spared from the wrecking ball.
A new chapter for the Ryman started in 1991, when Emmylou Harris used the then-dilapidated building to record a live album, which reignited interest in the historic stage. The Ryman was renovated (at the time Harris recorded her album, audience members couldn’t even sit under the balcony, which limited the capacity to about 200 people), and the Ryman reopened in 1994, serving as the centerpiece of entertainment in downtown Nashville.
It’s impossible to name all of the legends who have performed at the “Mother Church of Country Music” in its history, from Hank Williams and Johnny Cash to Aretha Franklin and Louis Armstrong. It’s been memorialized in songs and recordings, and was officially designated a National Historic Landmark in 2001.
But before he performed there, BigXthaPlug wasn’t aware of the history inside the walls of the old church.
The Dallas, Texas native performed a sold-out show at the Ryman for Apple Music Live back on October 1, 2025. Leading up to the show, however, BigX admits that it wasn’t until a conversation with Shaboozey that he realized how much it meant to play the Ryman.
During a conversation with Ebro Darden for Apple Music Live, the rapper was asked whether he understood the magnitude of performing at the iconic venue.
“I wasn’t until last night.”
BigX says that he had attended Shaboozey’s show at The Pinnacle in Nashville, and couldn’t understand why the “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” singer was impressed that he was headlining the Ryman:
“Shaboozey had a show last night. I went to it and after the show we was talking and he was like, ‘Man, you performing at the Ryman, man. That’s crazy.’ I’m like, ‘You didn’t just see what you just performed here? THIS was crazy.’
He like, ‘Nah, bro. It’s like, it’s historical. Do you know the history behind it?’ I’m like, ‘Nah.’ He like, ‘Man, it’s this old church…’ He just gave me the whole rundown. And by the end of it I was like, man, I’m doing something that you can tell the greats do, you know what I’m saying what?
The fact that, like I said, I was chose to step on a stage that greats have been on and a place that’s not my home, but that’s accepting me. You know what I’m saying? So, it’s just crazy.”
While Shaboozey may get some criticism for his music not being “traditional” country, I’ve always respected the way he knows and appreciates the history of the genre, so it’s good to see that he’s educating other artists on it too.
