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Travis Tritt Speaks Out On Heated Rant About Beyonce’s CMA Performance

Published Nov 30, 2016 By Country Music Nation

Radio.com Interview

It was the surprise performance between country music group The Dixie Chicks and one superstar guest performer that rocked the highly anticipated 50th CMA Awards and sent fans and artists in an uproar! Upon hearing that pop icon Beyoncé was to take the stage for a riveting mashup to commemorate the CMA’s achieved milestone of 50 years in business, various country music supporters vowed to boycott the televised event in protest of the very last minute announcement. However, country music star Travis Tritt took his protesting acts of the surprise to social media by making his voice undeniably heard on his Twitter page.

His honest words created an upheaval of not only praise, but disagreement with his opinions. However, Tritt has finally set the record straight in regards to his Beyoncé-inspired tweets and his discontent with the CMA’s need to incorporate acts that don’t belong. Sitting down with Nash Country Daily, the country icon admitted that Beyoncé’s performance was simply the catalyst for action. “This is a complaint that I’ve heard for a long time,” Tritt explained, admitting that CMA producers often recruit outside acts in hopes of boosting ratings. “I’ve always found it a little bit insulting— from the standpoint of being a country music artist—because this is a format that I’ve been a part of since the very beginning in my career,” he said.

Travis Tritt also explained that his tweets were taken out of context. He claims that he was addressing Beyoncé’s performance and not the singer directly. The singer said that his “twisted” message was not a personal attack on the pop star or her race by any means. “That’s what I’ve tried to make clear from the very beginning. We should be better than that. To make everything about race—to me—it makes me sad to be honest,” he said.

Reverting back to the controversial performance, Tritt explained, “All I said was that her performance—in my humble opinion—her performance as well as any of the other performances that have been on from the pop world, including Arianna Grande, Meghan Trainor, Justin Timberlake or whoever, do not belong. I don’t think they belong on any country music show. Especially on a country music show that was a 50-year celebration—an anniversary of what was supposed to be the entire 50-year history of country music awards—the CMA Awards show.” He added that he firmly believes giving performance time to an artist of an irrelevant genre takes away opportunity from genuine country artists that paid their dues to assist in creating the country music genre.

Using a bold comparison, the singer described the genre conflict with, “It makes about as much sense to me as it would make sense to bring Eminem in on the Dove Awards…That’s my humble opinion.”

What do you think about Tritt’s explanation? Do you agree?