The National Rifle Association’s relationship with various country stars is on shaky ground in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre.
The NRA have partnered with a slew of country music artists, including powerhouses like Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line and Lee Brice. Things have changed, at least for the moment, with a few acts turning their backs on the NRA- while some are staying silent.
Shelton has hosted annual NRA celebrity skeet shoots in past years. Meanwhile Florida Georgia Line and Lee Brice has done cross promotional campaigns for the NRA.
‘It’s no secret,’ the Director of NRA Country said in 2015, according to Rolling Stone. ‘If you poll our members, they love country music.’
Blake Shelton held shooting events with the NRA in 2011 and 2012, but remained quiet about his partnership with the association after Sandy Hook. This week he finally said he is not with them
Singers Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line have been removed from the NRA’s featured artists as of Tuesday- following the Las Vegas shooting
Thomas Rhett’s name was removed from the NRA featured artists list as of Tuesday morning
Rolling Stone reached out to 37 artists featured on the website of NRA Country- a music offshoot of the NRA.
Some artists said they have no on going affiliations, some have declined to comment and some have just not responded.
Out of the 37 country artists in bed with the NRA, only one group stood by the association after 58 people were shot and killed in the shooting in Las Vegas almost a week ago.
Florida Georgia Line who has done cross promotional campaigns for the NRA says they have no ongoing partnership with the NRA. Same with rising star Thomas Rhett who had the top single of 2016, ‘Die a Happy Man’ as well as Luke Combs.
Love and Theft were the sole group to stand behind their NRA partnership out of the 37 called
Justin Moore’s people thought it better to stay mum on the subject and did not respond to requests for comment on his partnerships with NRA
Blackberry Smoke and Sunny Sweeney declined to comment. Another two dozen artists did not respond according to Rolling Stone, including Justin Moore, Hank Williams Jr. and Jon Pardi.
Nashville duo Love & Theft were the lone country artists that had the gumption to say they remained partnered with the NRA.
‘What you’re seeing with the country music community right now is that everybody is just laying low,’ says Don Cusic, professor of music industry history at Belmont University in Nashville to the Rolling Stone. ‘They are stalling for time.’
When reached by Rolling Stone, a representative clarified that Florida Georgia Line, who had the hit ‘Cruise’ responded they ‘do not have a present day association with the NRA,’ while a representative for Thomas Rhett stated that the singer ‘has no current affiliation with the NRA.’
Blake Shelton had been a longtime featured NRA flagship artist, hosting shooting events in 2011 and 2012. ‘This is about a right that I want to support and that I believe in,’ he said of a skeet shoot event in 2012, ‘and if I can have fun while doing that, that’s even better’ according to Rolling Stone.
However in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, Shelton started to get quiet about his NRA affiliations. This week his representatives gave a definitive statement on the matter: ‘Blake does not have a partnership with the NRA.’
‘I don’t think anybody is going to be making that decision (to quit or remain aligned with the NRA) in the short term,’ Cusic says. ‘In the beginning stages of a career, it’s an advantage to have an organization like the NRA behind you. The problem is, when something this controversial comes along, then it flips.’
Rolling Stone says on Monday morning there were 39 country artists or groups on the NRA’s featured artists section, by Tuesday that number had shrunk to 37, with the names of Thomas Rhett and Florida Georgia Line nowhere to be found.
Sunny Sweeny’s people did the ‘decline to comment’ move instead of addressing the subject
Jon Pardi’s people simply did not respond to the request for comment on his partnership with the NRA after the Las Vegas shooting
Meanwhile, country-Americana artist Rosanne Cash in a New York Times op-ed Tuesday morning called on her fellow artists to disavow any association with the NRA.
‘I encourage more artists in country and American roots music to end your silence,’ she said. ‘The laws the NRA would pass are a threat to you, your fans, and to the concerts and festivals we enjoy.’
Immediately following the shooting, country musician Caleb Keeter with the Josh Abbott band, who was at the Route 91 Harvest Festival and performed before Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd, said he no longer stands behind the second amendment.
Keeter took to Twitter to share a lengthy statement about his new stance on the Second Amendment after Paddock unleashed a hail storm of bullets into the crowd, killing 58 people and injuring at least 500 more.
‘I’ve been a proponent of the 2nd amendment my entire life. Until the events of last night. I cannot express how wrong I was,’ Keeter wrote.
Stephen Paddock (left) killed 58 people in Vegas, he was a legal firearm owner. Wayne LaPierre (right) is the head of the NRA
This photo combination shows some of the victims of the mass shooting that occurred at a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Top row from left are: Hannah Ahlers, Heather Warino Alvarado, Carrie Barnette, Steven Berger, Candice Bowers, Denise Burditus, Sandy Casey, Andrea Castilla and Denise Cohen. Second row from left are: Austin Davis, Tom Day Jr., Christiana Duarte, Stacee Etcheber, Brian Fraser, Keri Lynn Galvan, Dana Gardner, Angie Gomez and Rocio Guillen. Third row from left are: Charleston Hartfield, Jennifer Topaz Irvine, Nicol Kimura, Jessica Klymchuk, Rhonda LeRocque, Kelsey Meadows, Calla Medig, Sonny Melton and Pati Mestas. Fourth row from left are: Adrian Murfitt, Rachael Parker, Carrie Parsons, Lisa Patterson, John Phippen, Melissa Ramirez, Jordyn Rivera, Quinton Robbins and Cameron Robinson. Bottom row from left are: Lisa Romero-Muniz, Christopher Roybal, Bailey Schweitzer, Laura Shipp, Erick Silva, Brennan Stewart, Derrick Taylor, Michelle Vo an
Musician Caleb Keeter of the Josh Abbott Band says he no longer supports the Second Amendment after witnessing the Las Vegas shooting massacre Sunday night
Keeter took to Twitter to share his change in position on guns and gun control in this lengthy statement
‘We actually have members of our crew with (concealed handgun licenses), and legal firearms on the bus,’ Keeter wrote before adding ‘They were useless. We couldn’t touch them for fear police might think that we were part of the massacre and shoot us.’
‘A small group (or one man) laid waste to a city with dedicated, fearless police officers desperately trying to help, because of access to an insane amount of fire power. Enough is enough.’
Keeter also said during the shooting he wrote his loved ones a goodbye and living will out of fear that he would not survive the night.
‘These rounds were powerful enough that my crew guys just standing in a close proximity of a victim shot by this f—ing coward received shrapnel wounds.’
‘My biggest regret is that I stubbornly didn’t realize it until my brothers on the road and myself were threatened by it. We are unbelievably fortunate to not be among the number of victims killed or seriously wounded by this maniac,’ Keeter concluded.