Country Singer Chase Rice Faces Backlash For Holding Concert Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Country singer Chase Rice is facing backlash for holding a concert in East Tennessee amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

The concert was held on Saturday at the former Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. The maximum capacity was lowered from 10,000 to 4,000, but videos emerged from Rice’s concert that showed concertgoers in a standing room with no personal protective wear or any indications of social distancing. Rice had posted a video of the audience on his Instagram story with the caption, “We back” along with a smiley face emoji and sunglasses. 

Other country music stars have taken it upon themselves to call out Rice. Kelsea Ballerini tweeted, “Imagine being selfish enough to put thousands of people’s health at risk, not to mention the potential ripple effect, and play a NORMAL country concert right now. @ChaseRiceMusic, We all want (and need) to tour. We just care about our fans and their families enough to wait.”

Bobby Bones wrote, “Aside from the obvious …. probably also heavy liability here. Just talked to two different attorneys about this.”

The Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary made a statement to ABC News that said, “We are evaluating the series from top to bottom [and] implementing further safety measures.”

Singer Sawyer Brown is set to perform at the penitentiary on July 18. Last Friday, Tennessee reported its highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day. 

The Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary opened to the public in July 2018 and holds a restaurant, distillery and a museum.