Country music fans might not have gotten the Super Bowl halftime show they wanted, but they will get to see one of their top performers play a key role on Sunday’s UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House.
“Zac Brown is going to be playing that night, and for the first time in a long time, he will be doing the national anthem,” UFC president Dana White said in a recent interview.
“We don’t do the national anthem,” White added. “One of the things that drives me crazy with boxing is they gotta sing two national anthems and all this stuff before the fight starts. We are an international business. We have people from everywhere, so we are going to end up singing two national anthems and not even from this country. The whole world is watching us. We are in over a billion homes worldwide, so I don’t do it. This will be the first time in a long time since like double-digits, UFC double-digits, that we have done the national anthem and Zac Brown will be singing it.”
Heading into the show, Brown has also spoken up about his role.
“Man, I’m here for the troops,” he said. “I’m here to honor America.
“This is patriotism, not politics,” he added. “(Expletive) all the division. I don’t believe in that. I love this country. I love all that people that have sacrificed so that I can live my American dream … it doesn’t have a place in politics for me. There’s gonna be, like, 8,000 active service memers that are gonna be there.”
Brown said he is a longtime UFC fan and watches the fights as often as he can.
“And it’s history man,” he said. “Getting to be a part of American history. Having the first sporting event that’s on the lawn of the White House. It’s an honor.”
Brown, one of the biggest stars in country music, made headlines late last year during his “Love & Fear” residency at the Las Vegas Sphere when some fans accused him of using satanic imagery in the show.
TikTok videos shared from the concert show Brown playing, wearing a crown that looked very similar to horns, and surrounded by skeletal, devil-like images.
Caroline Jones, a guitarist for the band, offered some insight into the situation in a recent interview with Taste of Country.
“It’s really easy for people to take things out of context and to misunderstand now … the show, if you actually saw it, is about redemption,” she said. “It starts in this dark and hellish place.
“It’s a story of Zac’s redemption,” Jones added. “From a childhood of abuse to the beautiful, peaceful place that he is in now. So, the whole show goes from dark to light.”
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