Shinedown frontman Brent Smith has addressed the controversy surrounding the band's now-canceled appearance at the annual Rock The Country festival.
Earlier this month, Shinedown withdrew from the touring event — spearheaded by Kid Rock — following significant backlash across social media. The festival has frequently been characterized as politically right-leaning due to the inclusion of artists aligned with Republican viewpoints.
While Shinedown were not the first act to exit this year's lineup, tensions escalated after drummer Barry Kerch publicly referred to Ludacris as a "coward" for stepping away from the bill shortly after being announced. That comment intensified divisions within the band's fanbase.
In a February 6 statement, Shinedown emphasized unity as the driving force behind their decision: "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. We know this decision will create differences of opinion. But we do not want to participate in something we believe will create further division."
Shortly after their withdrawal, the festival's planned July 25 and 26 stop in Anderson, SC — which was set to feature Creed on the first night and Shinedown on the second — was scrapped.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Smith elaborated on the internal and external reaction: "We saw infighting that we had never seen before, and for us, it was our job to diffuse it."
He acknowledged that not all fans agreed with the decision but noted that many supported it: "There were certain people that were not happy about [pulling back.] I will say that there was an overwhelming amount of people that agreed with the decision.… You're entitled to your opinion 1,000 percent in this country, and that's one of the beautiful things about it."
The rest of the interview is a chunk of feel-good quotes about how we should all come together, which I agree with but seems difficult at the moment.
Shinedown recently announced their eighth studio album, EI8HT, set for release May 29 via Atlantic Records. Alongside the album reveal comes news of the sprawling Dance Kid Dance Act II World Tour, a 54-date global run that will hit 11 countries, including major stops across North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
The Dance Kid Dance Act II World Tour will be anything but small. The band are set to storm arenas and major venues worldwide, bringing an eclectic lineup of support acts on select dates, including Coheed and Cambria, Black Stone Cherry, From Ashes to New, Those Damn Crows, and DJ Rock Feed. Get your tickets here.
5/13 Green Bay, WI Resch Center
5/15 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple Festival
5/16 Madison, WI Kohl Center
5/18 Sioux Falls, SD Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
5/19 Wichita, KS INTRUST Bank Arena
5/22 Austin, TX Moody Center
5/23 Oklahoma City, OK Paycom Center
5/26 Jacksonville, FL VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
5/28 Estero, FL Hertz Center
5/30 Tampa, FL Benchmark International Arena
6/2 Biloxi, MS Mississippi Coast Coliseum
6/5 Norfolk, VA Chartway Arena
6/6 Hershey, PA GIANT Center
7/11 Mt. Pleasant, MI Soaring Eagle (no Black Stone Cherry)
7/13 Toronto, ON Coca-Cola Coliseum (Shinedown, Coheed And Cambria & DJ Rock Feed only)
7/15 Quebec City, QC Centre Vidéotron (no Black Stone Cherry)
7/17 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena (Shinedown, Coheed And Cambria & DJ Rock Feed only)
7/18 Albany, NY MVP Arena (no Black Stone Cherry)
7/20 Manchester, NH SNHU Arena (Shinedown, Coheed And Cambria & DJ Rock Feed only)
7/21 Newark, NJ Prudential Center (Shinedown, Coheed And Cambria & DJ Rock Feed only)
7/23 Philadelphia, PA Xfinity Mobile Arena (Shinedown, Coheed And Cambria & DJ Rock Feed only)
7/25 Knoxville, TN Food City Center (no Black Stone Cherry)
7/30 Lubbock, TX United Supermarkets Arena (no Black Stone Cherry)
7/31 Colorado Springs, CO Weidner Field (Shinedown, Coheed And Cambria & DJ Rock Feed only)
8/2 El Paso, TX UTEP Don Haskins Center (no Black Stone Cherry)
8/4 Tucson, AZ Tucson Arena (no Black Stone Cherry)
8/6 Ontario, CA Toyota Arena (Shinedown, Coheed And Cambria & DJ Rock Feed only)
8/7 Las Vegas, NV Michelob ULTRA Arena (no Black Stone Cherry)
8/9 Sparks, NV Nugget Event Center (Shinedown, Coheed And Cambria & DJ Rock Feed only)
8/10 Boise, ID ExtraMile Arena (no Black Stone Cherry)
8/12 Billings, MT First Interstate Arena at Metrapark (no Black Stone Cherry)
8/14 Spokane, WA Numerica Veterans Arena (no Black Stone Cherry)
8/15 Vancouver, BC PNE Pacific Coliseum (no Black Stone Cherry)
8/17 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place (no Black Stone Cherry)
8/20 Fargo, ND Fargodome (no Black Stone Cherry)
8/21 Welch, MN Treasure Island Resort (Shinedown, Coheed And Cambria & DJ Rock Feed only)
8/23 Springfield, IL Illinois State Fair (no Black Stone Cherry)
9/4 Dyersville, IA Velocity Festival
9/10 McHenry, IL McHenry Music Festival
10/31 Paris, FR Zénith Paris – La Villette
11/2 Milan, IT Alcatraz
11/4 Tilburg, NL O13
11/6 Prague, CZ Forum Karlín
11/8 Copenhagen, DK Falkonersalen
11/9 Stockholm, SE Annexet
11/11 Berlin, DE Columbiahalle
11/12 Düsseldorf, DE Mitsubishi Electric Halle
11/14 Birmingham, UK bp pulse LIVE
11/16 Glasgow, UK OVO Hydro
11/17 Nottingham, UK Motorpoint Arena
11/19 London, UK OVO Arena Wembley
11/20 Manchester, UK AO Arena
11/22 Dublin, IE 3Olympia Theatre
