Keith Urban raised eyebrows earlier in November when the country star performed a private concert at Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, resort. While Trump did make an appearance, the party wasn’t his: Rather, the event was held by Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, who happens to be a Trump donor.
Country music fans, especially those on the liberal side of the political aisle, didn’t know what to make of Urban’s performance and the motives behind playing at such a polarizing venue. Breland, a frequent collaborator of Urban’s, was one of them. In a new interview on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, the songwriter, who co-wrote a pair of songs on Urban’s 2020 album The Speed of Now Part 1, says that while he hasn’t talked to Urban yet, the appearance was at odds with what he knows about him personally.
“I don’t love what that looks like as far as an endorsement, given other things that’s he’s publicly stated about his beliefs and where he lies on things. I think it can be misconstrued,” Urban says. “I’m giving Keith the benefit of the doubt because I know him personally, and we’ve traveled together and made a lot of music together, and I know his heart. But I also can understand why someone would see Keith perform at something like that and make an assumption about who he is and what he believes that might not be accurate.”
Breland compares the Australian singer-guitarist’s performance in the Trump orbit to that of Nelly’s in Washington, D.C., in January.
“I feel the same way about that that I felt about Nelly playing the inauguration — which is, go make your bag, so long as you are comfortable with the implications,” Breland says. “I know that Keith is someone that moves very carefully. He’s a smart guy. I think I know where his heart is on a lot of different issues… I would assume that he has factored in all of the pros and cons and determined that that was the correct decision to make.”
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Breland adds that he’d like to know what went into Urban’s choice and isn’t shy about asking him, like he did with Nelly.
“I asked Nelly, ‘Hey, why did you perform at the Inauguration?’ His response was, ‘I’m a military kid…. That was not a political decision, just me feeling like I’m being a good American citizen.’ I don’t know if I necessarily agree with that, but I do respect his thought process and the way he made that decision,” he says. “I imagine that Keith would have some sort of perspective that would illuminate some things that I may not currently see.”
But Breland agrees that at first glance, the performance wasn’t a good look for Urban. “I do think it would be a good look for a Jason Aldean, or Cody Johnson, or Nate Smith, who have been very public about their political affiliations and want to be aligned with this administration… I don’t know if Keith necessary fell into that box for me, which I think is why a lot of people were surprised.
“That’s the only reason it was a headline in the first place,” he continues. “If someone saw, ‘Hey, Aldean is playing Mar-a-Lago, ok cool. He’s friends with Trump.’ Different situations for different artists.”
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Watch the full interview with Breland, who also dives into AI in country music and why Beyoncé wasn’t accepted by mainstream Nashville, below.
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone’s weekly country-music podcast, Nashville Now, hosted by senior music editor Joseph Hudak, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature interviews with artists and personalities like Lainey Wilson, Hardy, Charley Crockett, Kings of Leon, Gavin Adcock, Amanda Shires, Shooter Jennings, Margo Price, Ink, Halestorm, Dusty Slay, Lukas Nelson, Ashley Monroe, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, and Clever.
