In light of the fallout from fans following Morgan Wallen‘s last-minute cancellation of his headlining show in Oxford, Mississippi over the weekend, the wife of another country music hitmaker is chiming in.
Bunnie XO, the wife of “Son of a Sinner” hitmaker Jelly Roll, recently took to social media to discuss what goes on behind the scenes and how hard artists work to get onstage.
“I wanted to chime in on this Morgan Wallen situation that’s going on,” Bunnie XO said via Instagram Stories on Monday (April 24). “I’ve been watching it unfold all day long. I just feel like I need to say something because as a wife of an artist, I have seen what goes on behind the scenes and it’s not easy. Those decisions are never easy.”
She shed light on the effort that artists (including her husband Jelly Roll) put in to get onstage and perform for fans, saying, “I have seen my husband getting literally, like, two or three breathing treatments because he has bronchitis so bad, and an IV, getting a shot of Toradol, taking steroids like the steroid pack that the doctor gives you, I mean, like doing all of that just so he makes it onstage, because he knows that if he doesn’t make it onstage because, one, the backlash he’ll get, and two, he never wants to upset the fans.”
She added, “When an artist has to make a decision to cancel a show, especially when you get to arenas like that, it’s one of the hardest decisions they have ever made. It’s not them sitting in the back and saying, like, ‘Oh, you know, I don’t want to show up to work today.’ There are so many factors that go into that. Not only that, but they lose out on money. They have to pay the venues back. I understand, people have to travel thousands of miles to see their favorite artist. I understand that parents have had to get babysitters and time off work and this is their one night out that they are really looking forward to, but you also have to understand that health is the most important thing. If somebody’s sick, they cannot go out there and give their all. If he really lost his voice and he went out there onstage and he was singing, [and giving] the worst version of himself that he could, not only would you guys be mad at him still — you all would be making videos about that, like, ‘Look at Morgan Wallen’s worst performance ever’ — and trying to get views from it. An artist is damned if they do, damned if they don’t.”
She ended with a bit of advice for fans and those ready criticize artists who cancel shows. “But I guess my whole point is I’m coming on here to say, that maybe, have a little grace. It’s like, be nice. Be kind. It costs nothing to be nice and to just kind of put yourself in that other person’s shoes.”
Following the concert cancellation, Wallen has postponed additional shows that had been slated for this week and told fans he is on vocal rest.
