This may be the only time in his career that Bryan Adams follows Bruce Springsteen.
Adams canceled his Thursday Mississippi concert in protest of the state recently passing anti-gay legislation. The “Summer of 69” singer called the state’s “Religious Liberty” Bill 1523 “incomprehensible.”
“I cannot in good conscience perform in a state where certain people are being denied their civil rights due to their sexual orientation,” the musician wrote on Facebook. Here are his full remarks:
Mississippi has passed anti-LGBT ‘Religious Liberty’ bill 1523. I find it incomprehensible that LGBT citizens are being discriminated against in the state of Mississippi. I cannot in good conscience perform in a State where certain people are being denied their civil rights due to their sexual orientation. Therefore i’m cancelling my 14 April show at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Using my voice I stand in solidarity with all my LGBT friends to repeal this extremely discriminatory bill. Hopefully Mississippi will right itself and I can come back and perform for all of my many fans. I look forward to that day. – Bryan Adams #stop1523
Last week, Springsteen did the same thing to a North Carolina show, for similar reasons.
That law dictated “which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use,” the New Jersey rocker said in a statement released on his official website Friday. “Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their rights are violated in the workplace.”
“Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them,” Springsteen concluded.
Rock on, fellas.