Don McLean has pulled out of this weekend’s National Rifle Association annual meeting following Tuesday’s tragic shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two adults.
“In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week,” McLean said in a statement Wednesday. “I’m sure all the folks planning to attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events as well. After all, we are all Americans. I share the sorrow for this terrible, cruel loss with the rest of the nation.”
The NRA’s Grand Ole Night of Freedom concert is still scheduled to go forward on Saturday in Houston, roughly 275 miles from Uvalde, with performances from Lee Greenwood, Larry Gatlin, Larry Stewart, Jacob Bryant and T. Graham Brown. The event will be hosted by SiriusXM’s Y2K host Danielle Peck. Representatives for Greenwood, Gatlin and Brown have all confirmed they plan to go forward with their performances on Saturday. Representatives for Stewart and Bryant did not respond to immediate requests for comment.
The event is part of a three-day celebration of “firearms and the second amendment” with scheduled speeches from former President Donald Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Tuesday’s incident was the country’s deadliest mass shooting so far this year, but far from its only one. So far in 2022, the U.S. has seen 212 mass shooting in 145 days, according to Gun Violence Archive.