Stop, Collaborate And Listen… Trump Is Back With His Same Old Invention:  Lee Greenwood

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, they're folks. It is Friday, June fifth, and all right, stop collaborate and listen. Lee Greenwood is back with the same old song, and with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Rose. Let's start by giving you full credit for seeing this coming and wondering why they didn't do it in the first place. The big two hundred and fifty anniversary concert with all those acts, it's canceled and they're going to be replaced by the guy you said should have been in the first place.

00:00:30
Speaker 2: Well, it's just the guy who I assumed was going to be there, and turns out that's exactly who I'm going to now be the concert. I guess they've got a couple other folks, but it's Lee Greenwood, Babe, God bless the USA.

00:00:47
Speaker 1: Ice Greenwood.

00:00:48
Speaker 2: If it broke, don't fix it.

00:00:51
Speaker 1: Why wasn't he there in the first place? This is my story of the year right now, rhogues. I loved it when they announced he was going to do the concert. I loved it when they started canceling. I loved it when Trump got involved. I loved it that he made himself the headliner. And I love the green Wood is now back to sing the only song Rhoms I can name of.

00:01:11
Speaker 2: His, so I actually just googled. Okay, does Lee Greenwood have any other hits?

00:01:17
Speaker 1: Yes?

00:01:19
Speaker 2: Yes, I owe you a top five cross crossover that won a Grammy in nineteen eighty five.

00:01:27
Speaker 1: You know that one?

00:01:28
Speaker 2: Not? No? Maybe if I haven't listened to it, I owe you.

00:01:32
Speaker 1: Okay, that's all right.

00:01:34
Speaker 2: Ring on her finger, Time on her Hands one of his signature romantic ballads. Maybe we'll get that.

00:01:40
Speaker 1: Wait, does one song?

00:01:41
Speaker 2: Ring ring on her finger, Time on her hand?

00:01:43
Speaker 1: That was two different songs, no one song.

00:01:45
Speaker 2: And then he had a single that was his first number one country hit. All right, Somebody's Gonna Love You.

00:01:52
Speaker 1: I like his titles, but the one we know, the one we love, the one that the president has been featuring for. Did he do it his first camp? Well or just a second. But Lean Greenwood has been showing up at Trump events and singing God Bless the USA pretty much anytime he's been invited, and here he is. He has been Rhoades brought back in to a certain degree. Save the Freedom two fifty concert, which started out with nine acts, at least six maybe seven canceled, and now the president has taken it a step further and rope This looks like an official statement from the President that he's canceling the whole concert.

00:02:29
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, everybody who's overpriced and boring and no one wanted to hear anyway. I love how it's almost it not almost. It is absolutely childlike. When someone says you can't have something, or someone takes something away from you, you say, I didn't want it anyway, I didn't like you anyway. That's actually what the president put into writing. Once all of these acts canceled on him, he made the point to say they were boring, overpaid, and nobody wanted to hear them sing anyway, Then why were they on your list?

00:03:03
Speaker 1: But and again this was his list. This is a group that was put together that's separate from them, Bipartisan American two fifty. This is an organization that is helping put together the two hundred and fifty, then the Firstary. But it is an arm It is in concert with forgive that use of the language, but it is in partnership with the Trump administration. So these are his people putting together his party in robes. Last Wednesday, was it the twenty seventh of May? I do believe they made the announcement that these were the acts. It's set off some ridicule and some jokes, but Roabes, these are people who have had significant contributions to making music.

00:03:41
Speaker 2: Absolutely they each one of those acts has at least one song that I guarantee everyone listening here knows, and so I understand the concept behind it was a decent idea to bring people together to celebrate. You know that obviously, making America great again is all about nostalgia, so yes, why not have some mist algic acts. But pretty quickly folks started dropping out, and by Friday, I think they were down to only three entertainers who hadn't truly weighed in. We weren't fully sure. The only person who just enthusiastically said yes was Vanilla Ice Hey good on him, literally the only one we heard a positive statement from after the announcement was made, and that obviously ruffled Trump's feathers.

00:04:27
Speaker 1: So the reminder of the list here, Yes, Vanilla Ice, Milli, Vanilli, the Commodore's Young mc C and C music Factory, MOR's Day in the Time, Brett Michaels, Floider, Martina McBride, now Rose. We got reaction I think within forty eight hours for most. But yes, the commodorees were out. Young mc put a statement out he was out. C and C Music Factory seems like they were out.

00:04:50
Speaker 2: It was an expletive written statement.

00:04:53
Speaker 1: We're back in, but we'll count them as well as not being enthusiastic. Morris Day in the time, Brett Michaels put out a long statement. Martina McBride also a long statement Florida. We never heard from Vanilla. Ice kept saying he would do it now. Most of them didn't throw out political reasons or they don't support the president. Most of them seemed to say that they were mithled about the booking.

00:05:16
Speaker 2: Basically, they didn't know it was directly connected to the Trump administration. They thought they were there for some sort of concert celebrating America's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, but they did not realize that it was specifically tied to the Trump administration. Once they realized that, they made a point to say my music as in political, don't want it to be divisive. But clearly some of them made that immediate reaction. Others I believe reacted to fans reaction, and including Martina McBride and Brett Michaels specifically because they referenced it, and Brett Michaels even said he had death threats for himself, his family, he and his band members, and he used that as his excuse. Martina certainly was almost pleading with her face not to be upset with her, saying, I didn't know what this was all about, and I had lengthy discussions and I was misled. So she wanted to make it very clear to her fans who felt she referenced who were upset with her.

00:06:13
Speaker 1: And then there was another side to it that a lot of people were upset with them for canceling. Trump supporters like, wow, you backed out, you coward. Yeah, so they were under a tough microscope here and put in a difficult situation, but most of them dropped out pretty quickly. So the President had said at least made one comment about the concert, and people were dropping out, and he started, I get this was several days ago ropes. He put one out and said, Hey, I'm going to kick things off. I'm the new headliner. I am going to be there on June twenty fourth, and I'm going to do a big rally and I'm going to make a big speech. I'm the man. So he's followed up now robes with this new statement on truth social that explains things a little further and insults people of the further.

00:07:01
Speaker 2: Yes, this is all in true Trump fashion, he announced on Wednesday, June twenty fourth, at seven pm in magnificent Washington, d C. Now totally beautified and one of the safest cities anywhere in the world, and in celebration of our country's two hundred and fifty year history, we will be bringing you live the greatest rally ever. It will be special at every level, a rally to end all rallies. We don't want singers with no talent but big fees to put you to sleep. We've told them all to stay home. All we want is you, me, a few speakers, and the greatest music ever played, the same music you have listened to for years. We will have the fabulous Lee Greenwood introducing me with what has turned out to be one of the greatest hits of all time. God Bless the USA and the amazing Christopher Macio who will sing nesson Dorma, Hallelujah, Ave Maria, God bless America and not since the legendary Luciano Pavaratti has there been such a voice. He goes on to talk about how the Army Band, the Armed Forces choir, blah blah blah blah blah. But he ends plus a fine and highly dignified gentleman known as President Donald J. Trump. So it's so funny that a man who will be celebrating his eightieth birthday needed an eighty three year old man to come in and save the day. That's where we are. The Greenwood is eighty three years.

00:08:30
Speaker 1: Old and a good soldier. Good on him. Oh, I will give Lee Greenwood credit for making something that's that's a special song. I will give him credit for that for this country, for so many things we've done. It continues to chart. Like anytime we have military action. We've had wars, I had big issues and people have rallied as a country, the song goes up on the charts. That's he made something Robes that has a legacy and is iconic.

00:08:56
Speaker 2: That is absolutely true. It's just it's a hit from nineteen eighty four.

00:09:01
Speaker 1: I believe eighty four.

00:09:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's okay.

00:09:05
Speaker 1: But he was talking about washed up past their prime. One hit wonder type people. And I'm not insulting Lee Greenwood at all, but Rob, you said from the very beginning, why didn't they just call Kid Rock and Lee Greenwood and just call it a day?

00:09:21
Speaker 2: They understand. I believe at this point they're fairly savvy folks that most musicians don't want to be perceived as political, period. And anyone who has chosen to perform with him that has any name recognition has paid a price professionally for singing next to adjacent in the vicinity of at the request of President Trump period.

00:09:50
Speaker 1: That is true, and that's why many have backed out. But by this I'm a little disappointed rooms that there we will not hear. This country is two hundred and fifty years old. This is the biggest birthday it's ever had. Ice Ice Baby was going to be a part of that celebration.

00:10:07
Speaker 2: Come on, you're still hoping it could happen, Robes.

00:10:09
Speaker 1: I think about Washington and Adams, the Revolutionary War, what had to happen for this country to become a country? And Ice Ice Baby was supposed to be played to celebrate it. Come on, Baby, that's special. It says so much in a lot of ways about the country, where we've come, what we like, what is entertainment, how we evolved? I love Robes that that was going to be played.

00:10:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, some of the headlines. I love this from Forbes just a couple of days ago before Lee Greenwood was announced, the headline was Vanilla Ice is last confirmed act as Trump's Great American State Fair lineup basically goes away. It's just funny, like he.

00:10:49
Speaker 1: Was, He's out there. Yeah, he wasn't shy. And look he made some comments and he said, look, I played for Putin. He this doesn't matter. I'll play for anybody. It didn't. He was trying to make a point that this is music and this is not about politics. He shouldn't have used Putin, probably.

00:11:03
Speaker 2: But that was probably not a good choice.

00:11:05
Speaker 1: See what he was trying to say. I don't know what this is going to look like. I am disappointed Robes greatly that this is just going to look like a political rally of President Trump's now, because this is this was supposed to be for everybody, But why would anybody go attend this now? It doesn't feel welcomb.

00:11:23
Speaker 2: Well, I can already see what the crowd looks like. You have an I guess will he be eighty When is his birthday exact?

00:11:29
Speaker 1: Or two weeks on the fourteenth?

00:11:31
Speaker 2: I think, okay, So you'll have an eighty year old man being introduced by an eighty three year old man, both who claim to be the greatest ever. Just what and what's the audience going to look like?

00:11:45
Speaker 1: He just said, Robes in here, the rally to end all rallies, Robes. This is going to be a his thing now, not a country celebration for the country. This is a political rally for his people because I tried to invite the rest to y'all, and see what happened, y'all, So let me just get my people in here. On a previous true social post ropes, he actually said just one of my rallies a great I think he even said a MAGA rally.

00:12:10
Speaker 2: He did say make America great again rally, and he did compare in himself in that true social post to basically being able to draw bigger crowds than Elvis ever did in his prime. I mean, there's delusion here. As a part of some of these true social posts, specifically referencing this great American State Fair concert series, why wouldn't he have NICKI Minaj, By the way, that's just a question, like, if she's such a loyal fan to him, now, why wouldn't she perform?

00:12:39
Speaker 1: Even she maybe knows better, but why wouldn't she be invited? I mean she is, She did.

00:12:45
Speaker 2: An Erica Kirk rally. Why would she Why wouldn't she go out and perform? I mean, if he's if they were looking for acts, I'm just surprised he has a few. He has Lee Greenwood, he is Nicki Minaj, he is kid rock.

00:12:59
Speaker 1: And there's been plenty of conversation around this and from conservatives that it's almost embarrassing that we are desperate to be associated with anybody famous. We're desperate to be connected in some way to people who are stars and celebrities. Trump wants that desperately. He wants to be in that group. He wants to be cool. He wants them to think he's cool, and he don't. Hollywood is true, Hollywood is Hollywood, music is music, and they are the biggest stars. He can't get a popular current superstar to stand next to him and say, yeah, this is my guy. Sidney Sweeney came out she was a Republican and she won't even open her.

00:13:38
Speaker 2: Mouth taking ahead.

00:13:40
Speaker 1: Oh but she ain't said a thing. He was desperate. I remember him being on a tarmacro getting ready to board Air Force One making comments about Sidney Sweeney, like, oh yeah, I love this. She's a part of it. He loves, he wants to and nobody will embrace them.

00:13:54
Speaker 2: Yes. In fact, the New York Times just put an article out about this, and he said, just seventeen months ago, he said, everybody wants to be my friend. And that was his big thing. He loves the idea. Look, I we've watched him. I remember when I was working for NBC and he was the head of the Apprentice. He was just lapping up all the celebrities and all the attention and all the affection he was getting at that point. And it seems now that is gone. His pop culture. This is what the New York Times, his pop culture capital appears to be on the Wayne. That's how a pudding.

00:14:33
Speaker 1: When did he have it? It might have been rose back before he got into politics. I cannot remember. Even in the first campaign, do you remember celebrities standing, big time, big name folks standing next thing?

00:14:45
Speaker 2: No, and like you can actually count on one hand, like yes, Lee Greenwood yes, kid, Rocky, Nicki minaj Snoop Dogg. Would you put on that?

00:14:53
Speaker 1: Absolutely not. He performed the other thing, but that wasn't the same situation. Who you just made me think of somebody else.

00:14:58
Speaker 2: It wasn't that Kanye for a little while, but that was got a whole other Uh. That brings a lot of other problems into his circle.

00:15:07
Speaker 1: That he doesn't He's not claiming Kanye, but Robes. All the celebrities you talk about, Sweetheart Morris Day won't get on the stage because you asked him to. Young MC won't get on stage because you asked him to. Robes. These aren't the Sydney Sweeneys and Timothy Chalomeze and Drakes of the world.

00:15:27
Speaker 2: Yes, And to say, to take this even a step further, folks who aren't household names. Famous jazz musicians canceled Christmas concerts with kids to not be associated with Trump at the Kennedy Center. So you just see musician after musician after a musician, and the Kennedy Center pushed it maybe to a whole new level.

00:15:46
Speaker 1: They were canceling left and right to the point he wanted to shut the place down. So you don't have to see how ticket sales were falling off. But stay here because something very important needs to be talked about when we come back. The President mentioned who's going to performing now, so Robot is going to have to explain to me who Christopher Maccio is and what is nesson dorma.

00:16:07
Speaker 2: Stay here, Welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. You were even saying this was one of your favorite stories of the day. We always kind of have a few special ones that we take with us into the weekend, and for you, this has been the story that keeps on giving. Like a week later, we're still talking about the concert that isn't.

00:16:35
Speaker 1: I love this story so much because as soon as it was announced, big concert, and then you see the lineup and you scratch your head like, what the actual hell? And Milli Vanilli jumped out.

00:16:46
Speaker 2: When you have Milli Vanilli, Vanilla Ice, you just have all of this, these names that you haven't heard being spoken of in decades, suddenly now in the center of a controversy surrounding the president, you kind of wake up and say, what are we talking about? Exactly?

00:17:06
Speaker 1: Well, Babe, initially I saw it and I was confused, and we all chuckled a little, and then I got excited. I'm like, oh my god, wait a minute. We love all these songs. Every single one of them has at least one and maybe two iconic songs. Then I got excited, and then ropes. A few hours went by, somebody canceled. A few more hours, somebody else canceled. The next day, canceled, next day, canceled. And then it became another joke of a rolling story that yes, ropes. For the past week, this has been my baby.

00:17:32
Speaker 2: And so Lee Greenwood just is the cherry on top because we were joking about it, and turns out that's exactly where things have ended with Lee Greenwood. Don't things just begin and end with him now, at least when it comes to the president. But you were asking about this tenor. I'm not super familiar with his work, but certainly ness and norma. I mean, that is one of the most famous songs and famously performed by uh Pavaratti. But Shelley has sung it. I mean, any great opera star has sung this music. It's actually from the final act of Puccini's Opera, and yes, it is one of the best known tenor arias in all of opera, and I actually bet if you heard it you would I don't want to even try it. And to Butcher, it was like Nesten Dorma, like I feel like you know this song, if you heard it, you would know it. And it's actually gorgeous. I have I have not, I don't think in this apartment, and certainly not when you've been around, but I have blasted that song before. It's just it's it's a gorgeous, gorgeous aria.

00:18:39
Speaker 1: I'm sure the brother can sing, right, he's famous to he's a he's our guy, right, the most famous American tenor opera guy, one of the most.

00:18:47
Speaker 2: Current Yes current, like still alive, Yes, but he is, Yes, and I'm sure his voice I believe did he not sing.

00:18:54
Speaker 1: In the It was at the rally at MSG.

00:18:58
Speaker 2: He has absolutely sung four Present and Trump before, so.

00:19:01
Speaker 1: Literally standing next to him and the first lady singing. So he's done this before.

00:19:05
Speaker 2: And so yes, he was a. He was a guaranteed Like Trump went back to the ogs like, here's why I know isn't going to publicly humiliate me like the rest of these knuckleheads just did. Literally knuckleheads in his mind just embarrassed him. And you can't think of something that would bother him more than to have people who he would consider has beens and lucky to be on his list blew him.

00:19:30
Speaker 1: Oh that's tough. That's a tough one. That's a tough point.

00:19:34
Speaker 2: Like yes, if Coldplay said no, if JT said no, if like major like big acts that people love, said no, then you could maybe understand. But these are folks who he figured were like needed the work and wouldn't have turned him down, and yet still did just.

00:19:54
Speaker 1: Bust the move. Doesn't even want to show up. That is the Commodore is on. Maybe I get maybe why they just got cloud. Yeah he's yeah, he ain't performed with the Commodore was anyway.

00:20:06
Speaker 2: Right, But you still think of him when you think of the Comedore.

00:20:09
Speaker 1: But all that's those songs, all the music, it's classic. I would love to have heard this Vanilla Ice.

00:20:14
Speaker 2: It's still you're holding out.

00:20:17
Speaker 1: I want to hear that song so bad, the idea that Ice Ice baby. You know he performed that song once in a full head to toe like suit that was an American flag. This was like back in nineteen nineties. He has worn that suit before. I will show it to him.

00:20:31
Speaker 2: You go, oh, yeah, I remember it almost too enthusiastic.

00:20:33
Speaker 1: I kind of look, I love the song.

00:20:35
Speaker 2: I do think it could be fun. President Trump, you know, he's upset obviously, but clearly he's had to have noticed that Vanilla Ice is just actually salivating to perform. He could bring him out and that would make the crowd go crazy. Would you not think I would think the crowd would go absolutely bananas for him.

00:20:53
Speaker 1: He does Trump really want that? He does he want to introduce Vanilla Eyes? Does he want to be on stage with a vote?

00:21:00
Speaker 2: You think that's beneath him?

00:21:01
Speaker 1: I think so. Oh wow, I think it is. I think he would think so right after all this now, I think he would think so.

00:21:06
Speaker 2: And this is the only guy because you know what people will start talking about if you see Vanilla Eyes perform all the people who didn't, So it'll just bring back that list, bring not that. It's never it's not going away, no matter what. Everyone is going to talk about this every time now they talk about the concert series or even the Great American State Fair or the celebration. This is always going to be a part of the conversation. And he knows it, and he hates it.

00:21:31
Speaker 1: But he's the headliner now at what is no longer the birthday party for the country, but is now. I guess Rope's going to be a major Make America Great Again rally. Talent to be determined.

00:21:45
Speaker 2: Oh but you know Lee Greenwood is in.

00:21:48
Speaker 1: When I said that, that would just me wholding. Now. Hope still for van Avice.

00:21:52
Speaker 2: And with that everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I may be roboch alongside TJ. Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.

00:22:00
Speaker 1: The tech pros and T