Amid Rock the Country’s lineup disruptions this week — with artists including Shinedown, Ludacris, Morgan Wade and Carter Faith making exits — the festival’s July 25-26 weekend in Anderson, S.C., is no longer on the schedule.
The South Carolina stop originally announced as part of an eight-city trek has been removed from Rock the Country’s website. Billboard reached out to a representative for Rock the Country for comment.
Anderson County administrator’s was informed of the event being called off on Feb. 5, reports the Greenville, S.C., publication The Post and Courier. No specific reason for the cancellation was stated.
As of Saturday (Feb. 7), the tour’s seven other stops remain on its schedule: Bellville, Texas (May 1-2); Bloomingdale, Ga. (May 29-30); Sioux Falls, S.D. (June 27-28); Ashland, Ky. (July 10-11); Hastings, Mich. (Aug. 8-9); Ocala, Fla. (Aug. 28-29) and Hamburg, N.Y. (Sept. 11-12).
Rock the Country’s lineup varies by date, with Kid Rock, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Jelly Roll, Brooks & Dunn, Riley Green, Miranda Lambert, Hank Williams Jr., Ella Langley, Lynyrd Skynrd, Jon Pardi, Brantley Gilbert and dozens more artists set to perform throughout the tour.
Shinedown, who pulled out of the festival on Feb. 6, was one of the acts booked to perform at the South Carolina dates. The band opted to drop out after receiving backlash from fans for participating in the festival.
While event organizers have not explicitly stated any political affiliation, headlining performers Aldean and Kid Rock have both been vocal supporters of President Donald Trump. Kid Rock and Brantley Gilbert are appearing at Turning Point USA’s upcoming “All-American” alternative halftime show, set to broadcast opposite the NFL’s official Super Bowl Halftime Show starring Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, whose Debí Tirar Más Fotos was recently the first all-Spanish album to win album of the year at the Grammy Awards.
“Shinedown is everyone’s band. We feel that we have been given a platform to bring all people together through the power of music and song. We have one boss, and it is everyone in the audience. Our band’s purpose is to unite, not divide. With that in mind, we have made the decision that we will not be playing the Rock the Country festival,” Shinedown said in a statement posted on its social media pages on Feb. 6.
The group stated, “We know this decision will create differences of opinion. But we do not want to participate in something we believe will create further division.”
