eric church

  • Super Bowl pre-game performances set inclusive and hopeful tone

    R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan and country music star Eric Church performed the national anthem at the Super Bowl on Sunday. They were only part of the memorable and inclusive performances leading up to the game, which started with Alicia Keys singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” H.E.R. followed up Keys’ performance with a powerful rendition of “America the Beautiful.” Her performance was echoed by ASL interpreter Warren “Wawa” Snipe. Snipe, a deaf rapper, drew a lot of praise online for his signing during the live performances at the stadium. Fresh off her spectacular reading at the Biden-Harris inauguration, poet laureate Amanda Gorman recognized a nurse, an educator, and a Marine veteran who served as the game’s honorary captains. “We celebrate them by acting with courage and compassion,” read Gorman from her original poem. “By doing what is right and just, for while we honor them today, it is they who every day honor us.” With so many women of color featured in the pre-game performances, this was possibly the most inclusive Super Bowl ever.

  • Passionate performances by Jazmine Sullivan, Eric Church, H.E.R., Amanda Gorman set hopeful, inclusive tone for Super Bowl Sunday

    Church and Sullivan were as the first duo to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl since Aretha Franklin and Aaron Neville in 2006 — and their duet seems just as likely to go down in NFL history.

  • Jazmine Sullivan, Eric Church Unite For Powerhouse Super Bowl National Anthem

    The country singer and R&B superstar joined forces for a genre-blending rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

  • Eric Church never wanted to sing the Super Bowl national anthem. Then came the Capitol riot

    On Sunday, Eric Church will perform the anthem with R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan. "We're unifying. And it's a time in our country when we have to do that."

  • #VegasStrong: Jason Aldean, Eric Church, and more remember Route 91 Harvest festival victims and survivors 1 year after shooting

    Jason Aldean, Jake Owen, Eric Church, and other country stars remember those who lost their lives at the Route 91 Harvest music festival massacre on the one-year anniversary.

  • Guns and country: The twisted, tangled history of the NRA and Nashville

    Eric Church's recent comments disparaging the gun lobby in the wake of the Vegas shooting has caused country musicians and their fans to reevaluate the relationship.

  • The twisted, tangled history of the NRA and Nashville

    Eric Church is still feeling the heat from his recent comments to Rolling Stone regarding the Las Vegas shooting and the NRA. The singer played a headlining set at the Route 91 Harvest festival just two nights before the deadliest shooting in modern American history. Church was personally “wrecked” by the event, but many fans took offense to his controversial view on the tragedy.“I’m a Second Amendment guy. That’s in the Constitution, it’s people’s right, and I don’t believe it’s negotiable. But nobody should have that many guns and that much ammunition and we don’t know about it," he told the magazine."There are some things we can’t stop. Like the disgruntled kid who takes his dad’s shotgun and walking into a high school. But we could have stopped the guy in Vegas. I blame the lobbyists. And the biggest in the gun world is the NRA. I’m a Second Amendment guy, but I feel like they’ve been a bit of a roadblock. I don’t care who you are — you shouldn’t have that kind of power over elected officials.”Almost immediately after the article was released, Church was hit with Dixie Chicks-level boycott threats to his music, shows, and merchandise — which was expected. Rolling Stone asked  about the blowback from fans about his NRA comments, to which Church responded, “I don’t care. Right’s right and wrong’s wrong. I don’t understand why we have to fear a group [like the NRA].Although it’s too soon to see whether #boycottericchuch will have impact the singer’s career, any objective observer can understand why fans are outraged: Guns are a huge part of the country music culture, and the NRA is a huge part of the country music industry. The latter is a relatively new development.Country songs as far back as Johnny Cash’s 1958 single “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” all the way up to modern hits like Luke Bryan’s “Huntin’ Fishin’ and Lovin’ Everyday” have glamorized firearms. Country music thrives on the lifestyle of its fans, which includes guns as much as  beer and pickup trucks. But in 2010, fans started associating country music with the largest gun-lobbying group in the country, the National Rifle Association. That year, the group launched NRA Country, a lifestyle brand dedicated to building a “bond between the best and brightest in country music and hard-working Americans,” according to its website.NRA Country wasted no time solidifying that bond. Director of NRA Country Vanessa Shahidi told Nashville's Tennessean in 2015, “It’s no secret, if you poll our members, they love country music. Everything country singers sing about, they live their lives the way our members live their lives.”The brand provided members with exclusive video blogs and interviews focused on the artists’ off-stage life, which often featured hunting or target shooting. NRA Country sponsored tours, including Luke Bryan’s "Farm Tour" in 2010 and 2011. It also spotlighted artists in print ads touting the “Featured Artist of the Month.”The relationship was mutually beneficial: Country artists big and small were promoted to the NRA’s nearly 5 million members, and the artists attracted potential new NRA members.In 2011 and 2012, NRA Country hosted a Celebrity Shoot in Las Vegas with the Academy of Country Music. Several notable country singers attended the event, including Blake Shelton, Lee Brice, Brett Eldredge, and Jake Owen. NRA CEO and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre spoke at the event in 2012.In 2014, legendary country act Alabama became the first country artists to perform at the NRA annual meeting. The following year, the NRA hosted its meeting in Nashville with more than 30 artists performing throughout the four-day event. This included a sold-out NRA-sponsored show at the Bridgestone Arena featuring Alan Jackson and comedian Jeff Foxworthy.NRA Country also brings country artists to the Great American Outdoor Show, an NRA-sponsored convention that features gun sales. In 2016, London's Guardian reported that in between concert sets, NRA videos played on loops to the anxious audience with this message: “We need to take our country back and fight like hell to save America.”But in 2017, the relationship began to show signs of fraying. After 58 victims lost their lives at the Route 91 Harvest festival, several country artists were hesitant to align themselves with NRA Country.  Florida Georgia Line and Thomas Rhett, both once-featured NRA Country artists,  confirmed they severed their connection with the organization.Some even spoke in favor of gun legislation. Superstar country couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill told Billboard that “common sense” gun control was “necessary.”“It’s not about the Second Amendment,” McGraw said.“It’s everyone’s responsibility, including the government and the National Rifle Association, to tell the truth,” Hill added.After the Parkland shooting that killed 17 people in Florida in February, several country artists supported the March for Our Lives movement. Garth Brooks recorded an uplifting message for survivor Emma Gonzalez, and Little Big Town walked in the worldwide march. By March of this year, NRA Country removed its featured artist list from its website entirely.NRA Country did not respond to Yahoo Entertainment’s repeated attempts for comment on its future association with artists, but the organization is still a viable, albeit smaller, part of the country music industry. LoCash and Granger Smith are the featured headliners for the 2019 Great American Outdoor Show. NRA Country has also been promoting smaller acts on Twitter.But many echo the sentiments of Church to Rolling Stone, boycotts or not: "At this point in time, if I was an NRA member, I would think I had more of a problem than a solution.”

  • Country star Eric Church blames NRA and gun lobbyists for Las Vegas mass shooting

    Former fans of the country superstar are now comparing him to the Dixie Chicks, who were shunned by many fans after their comment about the Iraq war.

  • The Grammys honor victims of Las Vegas and Manchester concert attacks

    Maren Morris along with Eric Church and the Brothers Osborne sang a rendition of Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" as tribute to the victims of the Las Vegas and Manchester concerts.

  • Maren Morris, Brothers Osborne and Eric Church pay tribute to the victims of the Las Vegas shooting in powerful GRAMMYs performance

    The country stars honored the victims of the Las Vegas shooting with a heartfelt rendition of Eric Clapton's "Tears of Heaven."

  • Musicians Sing 'Tears In Heaven' In Grammy Tribute To Las Vegas Shooting Victims

    Eric Church, Maren Morris and Brothers Osborne also honored the victims from the Manchester bombing.

  • 40 Sexy Songs That Will Instantly Put You In The Mood

    This playlist is straight fire. 🔥🔥🔥

  • Eric Church, headliner at Route 91 Harvest Festival, cries as he performs new song 'Why Not Me'

    Eric Church, who headlined Route 91 Harvest Festival before it ended in unthinkable horror, spoke for 5 minutes before debuting 'Why Not Me.'

  • Eric Church Pays Tribute To David Bowie, Glenn Frey And More At ACMs

    The country crooner remembered late greats at the 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards.

  • Eric Church, Chris Stapleton Lead 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards Nominations

    Given Stapleton’s enormous presence toward the end of 2015 – a year that saw him rack up four Grammy nominations, including the prestigious all-genre Album of the Year category – it comes as very little surprise he leads the ACM list with five nominations: His first-ever nods for Male Vocalist of the Year, New Male Vocalist of the Year, Vocal Event of the Year for “Hangover Tonight” with Gary Allan, and he’s twice nominated as both artist and producer in the Album of the Year category for Traveller. Tying Stapleton with five nods is Eric Church, who enters the Entertainer of the Year category for the first time.

  • Before CMAs, Eric Church Mails Select Fans Surprise Album ‘Mr. Misunderstood’

    Yesterday, country artist Eric Church blessed his fans with a surprise album called Mr. Misunderstood, ramping up the excitement before tonight’s CMA Awards. Other artists like Beyoncé, U2, Miley Cyrus, and Drake have previously released new music without warning, but Church did things the old fashioned way. A few members of the Church Choir – what he calls his fans – posted photos of the CD on social media and another speculated that the lucky recipients were chosen at random.

  • Blake Shelton & Miranda Lambert Fire Back At Country Star's 'Voice' Slam

    "The Voice" doesn't have a fan in country star Eric Church. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Church took issue with reality singing competitions and the prizes awarded. “It's become 'American Idol' gone mad," Church said, as reported by the blog, Keepin' It Country. "Honestly, if Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green f---ing turn around in a red chair, you get a deal?