Knows a thing or two about situations like this.
Back in 1999, the CMA Awards came under fire for disrespecting a country music legend when organizers wanted to allow George Jones one minute for an abbreviated performance of his song “Choices,” which was nominated for Single of the Year.
Jones didn’t think it was worth it to get all dressed up for one minute of stage time, so he refused to show up to the awards at all. He felt incredibly disrespected, and who could blame him? But he wasn’t the only one who was upset by the snub.
Alan Jackson, who was up for Male Vocalist of the Year, was scheduled to perform his then-current single “Pop a Top.” And he did perform his own song – briefly – before abruptly stopping after the first chorus and breaking into his own version of “Choices.”
A big ol’ middle finger to the show and the producers…
Jackson received a standing ovation for making a bold and defiant statement to the very show he was performing on. And after his protest performance, he simply turned and walked offstage and out of the building, not even returning to his seat for the night.
It was a gesture that Jones would later say meant a lot to him:
“What he did meant more to me than I could ever say. I was watching the show, and when he began singing ‘Choices,’ it moved my wife Nancy and me both to tears.
He made a huge statement on my behalf, and on behalf of traditional country music, and didn’t worry about what the consequences might be.”
But 27 years later, the CMA Awards find themselves in much the same situation after ’90s country legend Sammy Kershaw revealed last week that the Country Music Association denied his request to walk the red carpet ahead of the show.
(And before you comment: No, I’m not comparing Sammy Kershaw to George Jones, and I don’t think Sammy Kershaw would either. I’m saying that the awards show is once again under fire for disrespecting an artist whose contributions are undeniable).
Kershaw made the revelation last week in a post to social media:
“After more than 50 years in this business, many millions of records and singles streamed and sold, more than two dozen Billboard charted hits, a CMA Horizon Award nomination, being a lifetime CMA member, that they presented to me in 1992, and being asked to donate my time to play CMA Fest, I would hope I’ve earned the opportunity to walk the red carpet alongside my wife, as we’ve done before.”
The outrage was pretty much instantaneous, with fans and fellow artists jumping to Sammy’s defense and calling out the CMA for disrespecting a ’90s country legend (on a night when organizers have said they would be honoring the “heroes” of ’90s country, no less).
Well this afternoon the Country Music Association released a statement attempting to clean up the mess, basically saying, “Sorry your feelings were hurt” while blaming some unspecified “criteria” for determining who gets to walk the red carpet and announcing they were in touch with Sammy’s team:
The statement has done little to quell the outrage though: Many fans called the attempt at damage control inadequate, and even country star Jake Owen called out the CMA for their response to the controversy.
“This is a lot of words saying nothing… “our mission is to preserve the history and celebrate the excellence of country music.”
How about, sorry Sammy.. we messed up,..our words don’t match our actions.
Instead, you waited 4 days to craft this?!?”
Well one person who understands the situation the CMA is putting themselves in is Billy Yates.
Yates is a co-writer of the George Jones song “Choices,” the song that was at the center of this same controversy 27 years ago. He saw the reaction to Jackson’s protest performance, and the support that he received from both fans and the industry, and in a post on Facebook he shared some words of wisdom for the CMA Awards after reading their statement:
“Lame press release! Haha Back in the day, I wrote a little song called “Choices”. CMA stepped in it back then by not allowing George Jones to sing the song in its entirety on the show. There was much “pushback”, but the CMA stood their ground. Alan Jackson stood up and did what needed to be done.
His career survived making a statement and taking a stance. In fact, he stole the show and made history by bucking the system and doing what had to be done. CMA needs to step back and think long and hard about this.
Unfortunately, fans are seeing a pattern. This is not a good look for an organization that has much at stake.”
I’m sure the folks at the Country Music Association are surprised by the outrage, given that they were the ones who denied Sammy in the first place. Maybe they didn’t expect him to go public and figured that nobody would ever hear that they snubbed him.
But country music fans are loyal. Disrespecting an artist someone’s listened to for their whole life was never going to go over well, and now that it’s public the CMA Awards are going to have to work to make it right or risk further damaging their credibility after years of already-declining ratings.
Take it from Billy Yates: If they don’t, fans and artists have already made it clear whose side they’re going to take.
