{"id":243088,"date":"2026-05-29T15:03:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:03:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/martina-mcbride-bret-michaels-numerous-others-drop-out-of-america-250-concerts-whats-going-on-here\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T15:03:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:03:32","slug":"martina-mcbride-bret-michaels-numerous-others-drop-out-of-america-250-concerts-whats-going-on-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/martina-mcbride-bret-michaels-numerous-others-drop-out-of-america-250-concerts-whats-going-on-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Numerous Others Drop Out of &#8216;America 250&#8217; Concerts: What&#8217;s Going On Here?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>America is celebrating its semiquincentennial this year, but because that\u2019s a mouthful, most media outlets and government agencies have opted to refer to the anniversary as \u201cAmerica 250.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2026\/05\/donald-trump-accused-of-wearing-double-diaper-at-memorial-day-event\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the atmosphere in 2026<\/a> doesn\u2019t <em>feel<\/em> especially celebratory, the federal government is forging ahead with its party plans.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, patriotic celebrants wind up dancing to AI-generated music because it seems like there\u2019s not a musician on the planet who\u2019s willing to go anywhere near this mess.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript><\/noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2243704061-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Martina McBride performs onstage during The Music of My Life: An All-Star Tribute To Anne Murray at Grand Ole Opry House on October 27, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. \" class=\"wp-image-556060 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2243704061-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2243704061-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2243704061-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2243704061-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2243704061-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2243704061-1080x720.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2243704061-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2243704061-scaled.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Martina McBride performs onstage during The Music of My Life: An All-Star Tribute To Anne Murray at Grand Ole Opry House on October 27, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. <span class=\"image-caption-credit\"> (Photo by Jason Kempin\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The centerpiece of this summer\u2019s celebrations is the Great American State Fair, a series of concerts set to take place at Washington D.C.\u2019s National Mall.<\/p>\n<p>But just weeks before the concerts were set to begin, numerous headliners, including Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, and <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked lots of questions and was assured this was a nonpartisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states,\u201d McBride wrote on social media Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYesterday things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bret Michaels, of the band Poison,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DY6M0UYlRXh\/?igsh=MTZtOXRxcnUxeXpuaw%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revealed<\/a>\u00a0that he won\u2019t be there.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"\/>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cConcerns have also been raised regarding the safety of my fans, band, crew, family and myself, including threats that are completely unfounded and unforgivable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Numerous other artists, including Morris Day and the Time, Young MC, and the Commodores have also abruptly dropped out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur music has always been our voice and we choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party,\u201d the Commodores said in a statement. \u201cWe support the betterment of all Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the sh-tshow must go on \u2014 at least that seems to be the response from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFreedom 250 is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) dedicated to uniting Americans around the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary,\u201d Freedom 250 spokesperson Rachel Reisner said in a statement to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/young-mc-morris-day-drop-out-freedom-250-concert-series\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CBS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DY6M0UYlRXh\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"\/>\n<p>\u201cFreedom 250 is focused on our signature celebrations and events that honor our history and engage all Americans \u2014 welcoming all who share our goal of commemorating this milestone in a way that uplifts and unites America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Needless to say, statements tepidly arguing for the event\u2019s right to exist probably were not what organizers had in mind when they started the planning process.<\/p>\n<p>But hey, it\u2019s not all bad news!<\/p>\n<p>Vanilla Ice announced this week that he still intends to perform as scheduled!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVanilla Ice is contracted and will perform at the Great American Fair at the National Mall on Friday, June 26,\u201d Mr. Ice\u2019s management agency told CBS News in an email. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is proud to help celebrate America\u2019s 250th Anniversary! Everyone is welcome to attend and celebrate USA\u2019s Birthday and our Freedom!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yes, folks, the Great American State Fair is saved. In other news, Vanilla Ice apparently has enough songs to justify an entire concert.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2026\/05\/martina-mcbride-bret-michaels-numerous-others-drop-out-of-america-250-concerts-whats-going-on-here\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading Time: 2 minutes America is celebrating its semiquincentennial this year, but because that\u2019s a mouthful, most media outlets and government agencies have opted to refer to the anniversary as \u201cAmerica 250.\u201d And while the atmosphere in 2026 doesn\u2019t feel especially celebratory, the federal government is forging ahead with its party plans. Unfortunately, patriotic celebrants [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":243089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-243088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hollywood"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}