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“Unfortunately, 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. Concerns have also been raised regarding the safety of my fans, band, crew, family and myself, including threats that are completely unfounded and unforgivable. Because of that, I have made the difficult decision to step away from this performance,” Bret Michael said in a statement on his website.
The Poison rocker continued to underline how personal threats impacted his decision-making: “This isn’t about politics. It’s about staying true to what I’ve always believed in. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. That’s one of the freedoms our veterans fought for and something I’ve always respected. But as a father, friend and bandmate, I have to take threats and safety concerns seriously.”
Michaels also struck a decidedly patriotic tone in his lengthy post: “I believe in our country, in the freedoms we’re afforded and in the idea that for over 250 years we have gone through both highs and lows together and remained resilient. Music is a universal language that unites us, not divides us. Just like it did when I entertained a record-breaking crowd of over 100,000 at the St. Louis Arch for an Independence Day celebration with people from across the country who came together to honor our freedoms through music. The focus was on the music, the fans and celebrating together.”
The Commodores also followed Young MC, Morris Day, Martina McBride and others in dropping out of the National Mall bash soon after the concert series was announced. “The Commodores will not be performing at the Great American State Fair. Our music has always been our voice and we choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party. We support the betterment of all Americans,” the legendary group said in an Instagram post.
Outside of the outright denials, the bookings have caused some confusion, too. C+C Music Factory is listed on the bill and group member Freedom Williams, who has the trademark for the band name, posted a video saying he didn’t support Trump but then decided to stay on to perform after seeing blowback from fans, saying that “the day I let you motherfuckers tell me what to do is the day I die.”
C+C Music Factory co-founder Robert Clivillés subsequently posted a message deploring Williams performing, saying that Williams “has done his best to misuse our name.”
“Any comment Freedom Williams makes or any show he books, and makes or shares a specific political or religious view or opinion, Freedom Williams makes it as an individual and it has absolutely nothing to do with C&C Music Factories viewpoint in anyway,” Clivillés said.
And then there’s Milli Vanilli, the 90s pop duo best-known for its infamous lip-syncing scandal. Jodie Rocco — who along with Brad Howell, John Davis, Charles Shaw and sister Linda Rocco actually sang the vocals on the Milli Vanilli songs — told the Associated Press on Thursday that she was “shocked” to see the Milli Vanilli name on the list.
The performer repping the Milli Vanilli brand instead is Fab Morvan, who along with the late Rob Pilatus, lip-synced the group’s songs.
“I am here to entertain and unite people, not divide them,” Morvan told Consequence in a statement. “Let’s celebrate life & music and take a trip down memory lane.”
In a Facebook post, Rocco said the booking was “shamefully awful,” calling the performance “denigrating to my sister Linda, me, Brad Howell, John Davis, and Charles Shaw. Dragging our name through the muck and mire yet again.”
“So, let me get this straight…. ‘Milli Vanilli’ will be represented by Fab Morvan, who never sang a note on any of the 46 tracks we recorded, is not a singer, never will be a singer, and was never hired by Frank Farian to be a singer,” Rocco wrote. “I guess Freedom 250 feels they exemplify the best of American music, even though they’re German and they’re fakes.”
The concert series is set to be held June 25 to July 10 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and is part of the Freedom 250 public-private partnership backed by the Trump administration designed to celebrate the 250 years since the Declaration of Independence.
With a majority of the original advertised acts no longer on the bill, as of Friday afternoon, it’s unclear who will take those performance slots instead. For the event’s part, spokesperson Julia Friedland gave an interview with Sunrise on the Hill on Friday, emphasizing that the event is non-partisan. When asked about the artists’ claims that they were misled about the nature of Freedom 250, Friedland said “I don’t think there’s anything partisan about America being around for 250 years.”
“We have a history, obviously, but we have a president that wants to celebrate 250 years of America,” Friedland said. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing. And that’s how it was sold to performers.”
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