![]() ![]() That ability to speak to both sides of an issue without pandering or seeming insincere is, in part, what drove Church to approach Billboard with the idea of completing his vaccination on our cover. I think Morgan’s trying to work on that and on himself. Though Church (whom Wallen calls his musical hero) sent him a note telling him he was praying for him and to keep “hanging in there,” he’s resolute in addressing Wallen’s actions: “That was indefensible. When asked about the incident earlier this year when Morgan Wallen was caught on video saying the N-word, his response is one both Wallen devotees and those calling for his expulsion from the industry would have trouble finding fault with. He can also speak to his fans, not at them, in a way that has allowed him to lead with his actions while keeping audiences that can fill arenas. Church recalls Roc Nation, which produces the game’s entertainment, approaching him: “ ‘Listen, we want a Caucasian country artist, and we want an African American female R&B artist.’ ” After a year that “was so divisive,” says Church, “I just liked what they were trying to do.” ![]() That was obvious in February at the Super Bowl, where he performed the national anthem with R&B powerhouse Jazmine Sullivan. After the massacre at that year’s Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas, Church - who had taken the stage two nights before the mass shooting and says he’s still haunted by it - spoke out in favor of common-sense gun reform although he pointed out that he’s a gun owner and Second Amendment supporter, plenty of fans threatened to boycott him, and the National Rifle Association saw fit to remind him that its members have “a long memory - just ask the Dixie Chicks.”īut Church isn’t a throw-all-caution-to-the-wind renegade: He knows the value of being a symbol and the power that comes with a platform like his. In 2017, he crusaded against ticket scalping (“the bane of my existence”) and, with his team, developed a proprietary system that canceled over 25,000 price-inflated tickets for his Holdin’ My Own tour. From the start, he has followed his internal compass more than the demands of country radio - early singles “Two Pink Lines” and “Smoke a Little Smoke” glorified, respectively, the joys of seeing a negative pregnancy test and getting high - focused instead on building his audience at concerts rather than on the airwaves. That Church would take a strong stance on what has become a politically divisive issue comes as little surprise to anyone familiar with him. You’ve got to get needles in arms.”Įric Church photographed on Maat Taylor House Studio in Nashville. “It became very clear to me that the only way to really get back to normal is through vaccinations. “I view it as a godsent miracle,” he says. Then, with unprecedented speed, pharmaceutical companies developed vaccines. At first, his personal team of experts said touring wouldn’t return until spring 2023 at the earliest. Diving down his own rabbit hole, Church met with epidemiologists, venue managers and industry vets within his own circle, determined to figure out how to get back onstage safely. He didn’t plan some elaborate livestreaming event he didn’t envision clever new merchandise. To avoid spiraling, Church took a somewhat different tack from his fellow artists. “Take that away, and you’ve got to deal with some of the stuff you maybe haven’t dealt with.” “I used the music and the stage to get me through some of those darker things that were more personal,” including a near-fatal blood clot in his chest in 2017 and the death of his younger brother in 2018. “That has been the hardest thing about COVID: It takes what you do,” says Church. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the concert industry, it robbed Church - and every other artist - of the act that gives his fans unalloyed joy, fulfills his own sense of purpose and offers everyone a temporary respite from the outside world. ![]() “It’s like, ‘What universe…?’ It just seems so far away. “It looks so strange to see me in the middle of this pit, hugging everybody and taking shots of Jack Daniel’s,” says Church. Today, he has another perspective on the scene. Church looks up at the camera from behind his omnipresent Ray-Bans, a sly smile on his face. It captures the defiant country superstar standing amid a throng of fans packed tightly around him, their arms raised and waving like a many-tentacled creature. Last fall, Eric Church was standing in his office, perusing the concert photos hanging on the wall, when one caught his eye. ![]()
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