In 2026 Rock the Country Festival will no longer play in Anderson, South Carolina, after several musicians pulled out of the concert.
Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns he told the local newspaper The mail and the messenger on Friday, February 6, that the two-day show was canceled. Burns further claimed that he was not given a specific reason why the festival canceled his shows in South Carolina.
Rock the Country is described as “a festival for the people” with performances from Kid Rock, Jason Aldean, Jelly Roll i Blake Shelton. The festival was scheduled to stop in eight cities across the United States this summer.
While Rock the Country has not publicly addressed the closing of the South Carolina dates, the festival’s website and social media pages have since been updated to highlight the remaining seven shows. The festival is currently scheduled to kick off in Bellville, Texas on May 1-2 before heading to Bloomingdale, Georgia later that month. Performances are also scheduled in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Ashland, Kentucky, Hastings, Michigan, Ocala, Florida and Hamburg, New York.
Months before the Rock the Country festival crosses the United States, three of its named performers have dropped out. The annual festival, which consists of an eight-city tour with sets by popular music artists, initially featured Ludacris, Morgan Wade and Carter Faith among the star-studded lineup. Since then, the trio of artists have quietly canceled their (…)
Hours before Anderson’s show was scrapped, Shinedown revealed that they no longer planned to play any of the shows on the tour.
“Shinedown is everyone’s band. We believe we have been given a platform to bring all people together through power, music and song.” an X statement to read “We have a BOSS, and it’s everyone in the audience. The purpose of our band is to unite, not divide.”
The band added: “With that in mind, we have made the decision that we will not play the Rock the Country Festival. We know that this decision will create differences of opinion, but we do not want to participate in something that we feel will create more division.”
Shinedown — presenting Brent Smith, Zach Myers, Barry Kerch, Eric Bass i Jason Todd — previously denied that any political motivation contributed to their initial decision to perform with Rock the Country.
“We’re an apolitical band, but the knives are out. It’s crazy, and to be honest, I had no idea,” Kerch, 49, told the “Vinyl Road” podcast in January. “It was just, ‘Hey, here’s an offer. It looks like a great lineup, and it’s a mix of country and rock (artists).’ We accepted the offer… and then suddenly we found out that this (tea) has a certain political bent. I don’t care, I’ll just do a show. Keep your politics to yourself.
Kerch also emphasized that neither he nor his bandmates I knew the festival was a “Kid Rock thing.” (Kid Rock, 55, is a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, and is also headed by Turning Point USA alternative halftime show during Super Bowl LX on Sunday, February 8.)
Shinedown isn’t the only artist to back away from Rock the Country: Carter Faith, Morgan Wade i Ludacris in the same way they have moved away from the shows.
“Lines were crossed and he wasn’t supposed to be there,” a rep for Ludacris, 48, said. Rolling Stone earlier this month, he claimed its inclusion was a “confusion”.