Country music singer Morgan Wallen surprised fans with an unannounced appearance on the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday.
Many performers criticized the Opry for the decision to allow Wallen on stage, saying it could have troubling consequences for artists of color in country music. His performance led also to criticism of the mostly white institution and its history as a gatekeeper.
"Morgan Wallen's thoughtless redemption tour is the nail in the coffin of me realizing these systems and this town is not really for us," Joy Oladokun wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
"It's the idea of a young Black artist walking into that venue and wondering if ANYBODY is on their side," Jason Isbell wrote on Twitter. "What a lot of us consider to be a grand ole honor can be terrifying for some."
While Wallen was suspended from his label before his songs were pulled from radio, he remained the most popular artist of 2021 across all genres. He resumed touring last year and began releasing new music, including collaborations with Black rapper Lil Durk, as well as ERNEST.
Wallen's surprise return and performance came the same weekend as Grammy-nominated country star Mickey Guyton tweeted about a racist commenter. White country star RaeLynn said in an interview with a conservative podcaster that the genre was not racist because she had never experienced it herself.
In 2021, writer Holly G started a blog called the Black Opry to create a home for Black artists and fans. It has grown in less than a year to a full-fledged community and performances at venues around the country. Enthusiasm for what she created has grown so much that venues have been reaching out to book shows.
She met with the Opry's talent director with a proposal to host a show next month for Black History Month in conjunction with the Black Opry. She said the Opry's rep stressed that they were carefully selecting who appeared on their stage.
.
would have been 4 but Charlie Pride passed on..
I actually like Jimmie Allen,
