Country singer Eric Church caused controversy after canceling his upcoming concert to attend an NCAA Final Four game, and now his colleagues are weighing in on the backlash.
“I do not know if I can cancel the show to get into the game,” Jason Aldean said during an appearance on Thursday, March 31, on E! Daily pop music news. “I feel like people buying a ticket to come to your show have to keep their end of the bargain.”
The 45-year-old singer of the “Big Green Tractor” continued: “I do not know if I can do it.”
Church, 44, made headlines earlier this week when he announced that his Saturday show, April 2, in San Antonio, Texas, had been canceled so he could watch his favorite team play in the Final Four.
“This Saturday, my family and I are going to cheer for Tar Heels together, as the team has reached the Final Four,” the “Guys Like Me” singer wrote in an email to ticket holders. “As a longtime Carolina basketball fan, I’ve been watching Carolina and Duke fight for a year, but for the first time in NCAA tournament history, they will fight in the Final Four—the dream of any sports fan.”
While the North Carolina native noted that his actions were “selfish,” he asked fans to “abandon your plans for Saturday night with us so that I can spend this moment with my family and the sports community.”
Church added, “However, the same type of passion that people feel when they take seats at our concerts makes us want to be part of the crowd at a game of such significance.”
After the musician’s statement, several fans were particularly upset by the last-minute decision.
“He canceled the show, which is so strange to me that he didn’t postpone the show. He canceled. For example, for me, this is something that really annoys me,” Bobby Bones said on Wednesday, March 30, on an episode of his Bobby Bones show, claiming that Church is letting his fans down. “There are only a few things in my life that I would say, ‘Hey, I can’t do a show.’
The “Dancing with the Stars” season 27 champion continued, “He sends a note and you have to give him credit, and he’s like, ‘This is the most selfish thing I’ve ever asked for.’…Yes, it’s selfish, but he admits. to the fact that. He could have just said, “I have COVID.” The problem is that he appears at the game with a false mustache. I can’t hate it, because I would do the same, only under the following circumstances: death, sports in Arkansas [and if I was] sick, in that order.”
Church, who is currently on the “Gather Again” US tour, has yet to speak publicly about the backlash.
