You mean I can go to a concert without getting lectured about Christopher Columbus?
Kacey Musgraves made headlines recently, not for her music but for her politics after hosting Texas Democrat candidate for US Senate, James Talarico, at a recent show in Dallas. And the next day, she followed it up by going off on…Christopher Columbus when she found out the following day was Columbus Day:
“Tomorrow’s Monday? That sucks. Boo. Oh yeah, it’s a holiday, right? Ew, that’s right, wait, it’s Columbus Day?
Yeah, obviously f–k Columbus. Literally the lamest person to probably ever exist. Like, for real. What a loser. You’re a loser Christopher Columbus. We hate you.”
Bet that hurt his feelings.
The comments came just a few days after Metallica frontman James Hetfield called out artists for using their shows to rant about politics:
“Unless you live in Vegas, you’ve come a long way to spend some time with Metallica. We’re grateful for that. Your travels, the money you spend, the time it took, thanks for coming to celebrate with us.
And I just gotta say, Metallica is not here, like some other ‘entertainers,’ to influence you with their bulls–t. We are here to forget about all the outside sh-t. Metallica’s agenda is love, energy and heavy music, baby.”
And apparently, Wynonna Judd feels the same way.
The country music legend was recently thrust into the political discourse when her longtime friend Rosie O’Donnell pointed to Wynonna as the only Trump supporter she was friends with – which came as a surprise to Wynonna, because the two had never discussed politics:
“I’m in shock, just so you know. I’ve never spoken to her about politics in my life. Assumption, 100%. She doesn’t know anything about my stuff. And I’m an independent. I don’t discuss it.
I don’t know where it came. It’s complete assumption. And I’m not angry about it, I heard it and I went, ‘What the, I don’t ever remember talking to her about this.’ So she’s assuming.’”
Rosie ultimately apologized to Wynonna, admitting that she was making an assumption based on the country singer performing at Mar-a-Lago. But during a recent interview on Outkick’s Tomi Lahren is Fearless, Wynonna said it’s patriotism and not politics:
“I’ve performed for seven presidents, Congress, the Senate. I’ll go anywhere and sing to anybody. I don’t care about all that. And people just don’t understand that.”
And when it comes to politics at her shows, Wynonna says she lives by a simple philosophy:
“What would Dolly do if she was performing on stage and someone asked her a question about politics or gay or straight or whatever. I’m like, ‘Music is for everybody.’ That’s what’s so great. I don’t hide behind that. I just don’t choose to come out swinging and debating. I wasn’t born to be in that. I was born to sing and play music.”
Of course like anybody else, Wynonna says that she has her own political opinions. But she chooses to keep them off stage, because she knows that her audiences include fans from all walks of life. And at the end of the day, she’s an American above all else:
“When I’m on stage I go straight to the flag and I go straight to America. We live in the greatest country in the world. I mean, if it was President Biden I would support him because he’s the freaking president. That’s what I am. I’m a patriot. I support my servicemen. My son is a deputy and I am for America. Period.”
And as for artists like Kacey Musgraves who choose to use the stage as a platform for their political opinions:
“She has the right to do that, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing. My grandmother would have had a fit.
So I can’t speak for other people. All I can say is this: When I go on stage, I’m keenly aware that people spend money on the ticket and they didn’t – I never hear from my fans, ‘Hey, would you come out and sing Grandpa and tell me what your political view is? I’ve never had that in my entire career.”
Wish more artists felt the same way – on both sides of the aisle.
