Garth Brooks loves everyone.
The singer has always taken an above-the-fray, everyone is welcome in my tent approach to dealing with controversial issues. That's at least partly why Brooks has performed at inaugurations for presidents from both major political parties.
Related: Dylan Mulvaney has a new idea for Bud Light amid boycott woes
It's a divided world and Brooks has always been welcoming to everyone, believing that music and maybe a beer, or a glass of whisky can bring everyone together.
That stand normally does not put Brooks at odds with much of the country music community. That changed in April when Kid Rock called out Anheuser-Busch (BUD) -) for a deal between Bud Light and transgender social medial influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Many country music stars including Travis Tritt and John Rich of Big & Rich fame took public stands against Anheuser-Busch, dropping its beers from their tour riders and bars. That kicked off a wave of transphobic posts on social media in response to pretty much anything Bud Light posted.
Brooks, however, immediately took a very different approach when he talked about how he would handle the Bud Light scandal at his upcoming Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk in Nashville.
"And yes, we're going to serve every brand of beer. We just are. It's not our decision to make. Our thing is this, if you [are let] into this house, love one another. If you're an a**hole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway," he said.
Image source: Shutterstock
Bud Light on the menu as Brooks opens bar
Unlike most boycotts, the effort to punish Bud Light for its partnership with Mulvaney has actually worked. The beer brand has seen its sales drop by more than 25% for an extended period of time despite bars owned by aggrieved performers not being great about actually banning the beer.
Kid Rock has not only been spotted drinking Bud Light, but his Nashville bar never actually stopped serving it. Still, hypocrisy aside, the damage to the brand has been real. That's probably at least partially because unlike other boycotts that involve actual sacrifice, giving up Bud Light is not that hard because most light beers are pretty similar.
Still, Brooks has placed himself at odds with a significant segment of the country music audience by not only being willing to sell Bud Light at his bar, but by openly welcoming everyone to drink there.
“I know this sounds corny, I want it to be the Chick-fil-A of honky-tonks,” Brooks shared. “I want it to be a place you feel safe in. I want it to be a place where you feel like there are manners and people like one another.”
Brooks' bar set to open in Nashville
While it should not be a political statement to say that your bar welcomes transgender people and the broader LGBTQ+, in the current political climate it has become one. Brooks' stance on Bud Light may bring added attention to Friends in Low Places when it opens on Black Friday, Nov. 24.
Brooks, for his part, has mostly ignored the controversy since his initial remarks. He plans to open the bar with a concert.
"How do you open a Friends in Low Places bar??? With a Garth concert!" he said in a press release. "This is going to be off the chain. Black Friday, brand new bar, in the home of Country Music...Hollywood couldn't write a better script. I can NOT wait!"
Tickets to the show will only be available through the BIG 615, a station on Brooks' SEVENS Radio Network, which is on TuneIn, GMA reported.
Brooks responded to the backlash around his original statements by doubling down on welcoming everyone to the bar.
"Everybody's got their opinions. But inclusiveness is always going to be me," Brooks said. "I think diversity is the answer to the problems that are here and the answer to the problems that are coming. So, I love diversity. All inclusive, so all are welcome. I understand that might not be other people's opinions, but that's OK, man. They have their opinions. They have their beliefs. I have mine."
