Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson was booed after mocking fans for chanting “USA” at a Florida show, but before the audience could backlash at him, he doubled down on what he was “so proud of” about in America.
TMZ reports that the trouble began during a Sunday night performance in Tampa on the band’s Southern Hospitality Tour, when an image of the group’s black crow mascot dressed as Uncle Sam appeared on a screen behind the stage, prompting the audience to start chanting pro-Americanly.
A source told the show that Robinson, 59, pushed back from the audience just before the band performed their hit song “She Talks to Angels.”
“Thank you for the geography lesson,” the singer said, reportedly growing more irritated as the “USA” cheers continued.
“I don’t know what I’m so proud of right now,” he declared, according to the newspaper.
This comment was enough to elicit boos from the crowd, some of whom became furious and began to leave the venue.
In footage obtained by TMZ, Robinson can be heard clapping back at the booers.
“Some of us have real faith,” the 59-year-old singer can be heard saying to the visibly dwindling crowd.
“Some of you who are booing us are not afraid. And we are definitely not ignorant.”
Online backlash against the rocker’s comments was swift.
“We are American veterans. We bought tickets for my wife’s birthday in Tampa. Chris Robinson mocked the American chanter… We left disappointed. We would like a partial refund,” one fan shared on X.
“So I’m at the Black Crowes concert in Tampa tonight…Chris Robinson basically just told the Patriots to kiss his ass! No kidding. This was the 12th Crows concert since ’87, I just dropped them like a hot iron. Damn it, Chris!” another fan gushed.
“I had no issues with the Black Crowes, but lord, Chris Robinson handled this in the worst possible way. It’s one thing to have fans being belligerent and disrupting the set, it’s another thing to have fans innocently chanting USA,” another person wrote.
The Atlanta-born singer formed the band in 1984 with his brother, guitarist Rich Robinson, and enjoyed great success in the early 1990s, particularly with their first two albums, Shake Your Money Maker (1990) and The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (1992).
The band disbanded in 2015, but reunited in 2019 and is currently touring in support of their 10th studio album, A Pound of Feathers.
In a March interview with Mojo to promote the album, Robinson described himself as “not interested in politics.”
“I’m not interested in politics. I’m more interested in poetry, art, people and experiences,” the lead singer told the outlet.
