Martina McBride Becomes Fourth Performer to Withdraw From D.C. Concert Series as Backlash to Trump-Backed ‘Freedom 250’ Grows

By Chris Willman

Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

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• Martina McBride Becomes Fourth Performer to Withdraw From D.C. Concert Series as Backlash to Trump-Backed ‘Freedom 250’ Grows 4 minutes ago
• The Commodores Become Latest Act to Ditch ‘Freedom 250’ Concerts in D.C. After Backlash Over Trump Ties 4 hours ago
• Gracie Abrams Announces 64-Date ‘Look at My Life’ International Arena Tour for Winter and Spring 2026-27 10 hours ago

Country star Martina McBride has become the latest performer to back out of the upcoming “Freedom 250” concerts on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., posting on her social accounts Thursday night that she was dropping out of her planned show after learning that it carried far more political baggage than she’d realized.

McBride is one of four artists who’ve dropped out of the concert series in the less than two days since it was announced, the others being Morris Day and Young MC, who announced their exits on Wednesday, and the Commodores, who publicly pulled out Thursday afternoon. (A fifth artist, C&C Music Factory frontman Freedom Williams, said Wednesday he was wavering between whether to drop out or fulfill the gig.)

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