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The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson has spoken out about the controversy caused by recent comments made onstage at Tampa’s MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre.
The band performed at the Florida venue on May 31 as part of their ongoing ‘Southern Hospitality tour’, and after a section of the crowd broke into chants of “U-S-A!”, Robinson hit out at the crowd.
According to TMZ, a visual of the Black Crow mascot dressed as Uncle Sam was displayed on the screen behind them. Before launching into ‘She Talks To Angels’, the frontman stopped for a moment to talk to the crowd. “Thanks for the geography lesson,” he said, before adding: “I don’t know what you have to be so proud of right now.”
From there, some concertgoers were heard booing him, while some others seemingly chose to leave after his comments. “For those of you fucking booing us, some of us are not afraid. And we most assuredly are not fucking ignorant.”
Now, he’s shed light on the incident while speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock. “I think the whole thing was, of course, blown out of context so people can get clicks and people can stir up the animosity,” he said.
EXCLUSIVE: The fallout from The Black Crowes' onstage political dust-up on Sunday didn't end with boos … it kept rolling straight toward the exits. pic.twitter.com/PSFZy9iMi4
— TMZ (@TMZ) June 2, 2026
“But be most assured – in a week, something else will come up that stirs up the hornets’ nest.” He also cleared up another misconception about his comments, clarifying: “No matter what I ever would say or do or feel about things, there’s no way I would disrespect our veterans.
“For the people who’ve put their lives on the line and made that sacrifice and dedication, I wouldn’t do that. But I have to speak my mind. I don’t have an agenda or anything — I’m just trying to make a soulful connection with people.”
Robinson isn’t usually one to use his platform to make many political statements, although Variety highlights that he did make a subtle swipe at President Donald Trump in 2017, sharing that he was not too pleased that “Donald Trump is president, John Mayer is in The Grateful Dead, and my brother’s in a Black Crowes tribute band.”
The Black Crowes were nominated to be inducted into the 2026 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame recently, although they didn’t make the cut.
Others who didn’t make the list from the 17 nominations included New Edition, Mariah Carey, Ms Lauryn Hill, INXS, P!nk, Jeff Buckley and Shakira, but those who will join the Rock Hall this year include Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Oasis, Sade, Luther Vandross and Wu-Tang Clan.
The Atlanta rock band will be performing at the 10th anniversary edition of Madrid’s Mad Cool later this summer, and that festival will see headline slots from Pulp, Foo Fighters, Florence & The Machine, and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.
The post The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson addresses backlash after calling Florida crowd “ignorant”: “There’s no way I would disrespect our veterans” appeared first on NME.
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