Longtime Eagles singer and guitarist Joe Walsh dropped out of a planned performance in Cleveland, Ohio, after he learned that the concert was for the Republican National Convention.
“It was my understanding that I was playing a concert which was a nonpartisan event to benefit the families of American veterans on Monday, July 18 in Cleveland,” Walsh said Wednesday in a statement. “Today it was announced that this event is, in fact, a launch for the Republican National Convention.”
“In addition, my name is to be used to raise sponsorship dollars for convention-related purposes,” Walsh added. “Therefore, I must humbly withdraw my participation in this event with apologies to any fans or veterans and their families that I might disappoint.”
Walsh said he cannot “endorse” a Republican party full of “vitriol and fear-mongering,” and hopes to hold a “veteran related benefit concert” later in the year.
“I am very concerned about the rampant vitriol, fear-mongering and bullying coming from the current Republican campaigns,” the 68-year-old rocker said. “It is both isolationist and spiteful. I cannot in good conscience endorse the Republican party in any way.”
Walsh is also co-headlining the One Hell of a Night Tour with Bad Company, beginning May 12. There’s currently a tour date on June 30 in Charlotte, North Carolina, a state that has seen several entertainers cancel concerts and other performances in protest of the state’s newly passed Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act. It’s unclear, at least for now, if Walsh will also nix his upcoming performance in North Carolina.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson.