{"id":401721,"date":"2026-09-16T18:20:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T18:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/401721\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T18:20:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T18:20:41","slug":"tampas-raymond-james-stadium-will-host-ken-chesney-an-artist-who-wont-get-all-political-on-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/401721\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa\u2019s Raymond James Stadium\u00a0will host Ken Chesney, an artist who won’t get all political on us"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"KennyKenny Chesney Credit: Brian Friedman\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/p>\n

After a long summer packed with political controversy for the Tampa Sports Authority, the tax-payer funded organization that books Raymond James Stadium is now making a safe, non-political pivot to Kenny Chesney, a guy who says it\u2019s \u201cnot his place to tell people how to think or how to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yesterday, TSA announced that the 58 year-year-old country singer will kick off his \u201cOriginal Vibe Room Tour\u201d at Tampa\u2019s Raymond James Stadium this spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started to talk about touring next year, all I could think about was how good those stadiums feel how loud, how fast, how much energy comes hurling at us,\u201d said Chesney, in a press release, which notably had zero mention of the more than 34,000 women and children who\u2019ve died<\/a> in Gaza since October 2023.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I knew how much I missed it,\u201d continued Chesney.<\/p>\n

Over the last few months, the Tampa Bay Sports Authority has faced tremendous pushback after it willingly agreed to an atypical, iron-clad contract with \u201cformer\u201d Nazi and presidential candidate Kanye West, even after knowing full well he had a song called \u201cHeil Hitler<\/a>\u201d and sold swastika shirts on his website. Then, this week, the organization faced renewed scrutiny for the removal of rapper Macklemore from Ed Sheeran\u2019s Nov. 7 Tampa stop, after a billionaire Epstein associate <\/a>led a pressure campaign to boot the \u201cThrift Shop\u201d artist because he said \u201cfree Palestine\u201d at a recent show.<\/p>\n

On the contrary, the TSA now has a guy like Chesney, who in the past has shared a stage with politically-charged artists like Bruce Springsteen<\/a>, but most recently appeared on a podcast with edgy centrist Bill Maher to proclaim that he doesn\u2019t partake with that stuff, and prefers to not get all political at his shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never saw it to be my place to use my stage or platform, no matter where I\u2019m playing, to tell people how to think or how to vote. They hear that\u2026They get that everywhere else. Everywhere, on every device, every network. They\u2019re there as an escape from all that stuff,\u201d said Chesney to the Club Random podcast.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Country Music Hall of Famer\u2014who actually performed at Crowbar in Ybor City before his 2022 Raymond James Stadium gig<\/a>\u2014also confided to Maher how he buries the human-like sensation to say things like \u201cwe shouldn\u2019t cage people for not being white,\u201d or \u201cpeople deserve food and medical care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a certain ego, I think, that lives in there,\u201d explained Chesney, \u201cand a certain box inside your head and your soul that you have to check, for some reason, to think that you can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chesney\u2019s \u201cOriginal Vibe Room Tour,\u201d with support from Eric Church, Sheryl Crow and Greylan James, comes to Raymond James Stadium on April 24, 2027. Tickets go on sale Sept. 25.<\/p>\n

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This article appears in September 10 \u2013 16, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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