If there’s one thing certain about a Cody Johnson show, it’s that he’s bound to be unapologetically American.
The 38-year-old Texan has never been shy about his patriotism, often making it a point throughout his concerts to give a shout-out to the land of the free at least once. And this past weekend, with a record-setting crowd of more than 90,000 fans packed into Clemson University’s Memorial Stadium, Johnson sure took advantage of the moment to lead his choir audience with one of the nation’s most iconic songs.
Johnson helped make history opening for the king of country, George Strait, on Saturday, May 2, at this momentous show, which marked the first musical performance in 27 years since the venue’s last concert, Strait’s Country Music Festival, in 1999. Looking into the Death Valley sold-out crowd of 90,037 attendees, Johnson started his mid show tribute firmly stating, “I don’t care how much money you got, I dont care how much money you don’t have, I don’t care what color your skin is, I dont care what language you speak, I don’t care what church you go to, I do not care who you vote for.”
He continued emphasizing a message of unity, saying, “There’s three things that bind us together in my United States of America. Those three things are very simple; they are red, white, and blue.”
In hopes of extending this truth to the massive crowd, he also took the time to reflect on those who died for our freedom, enabling Americans to “love each other anyway” despite their differences. “Before we were born, an American soldier didn’t think twice about laying their lives down for us to have the right to disagree and still be free and love each other.”
The “‘Til You Can’t” singer then instructed the crowd to rise to their feet, remove their hats, and join him in singing from a place of “unity instead of division”. Then, serenading the crowd with his incredible red dirt vocals, Johnson led into a stunning rendition of “God Bless America,” echoed by the voices of the surrounding South Carolina stadium.
This same wave of patriotism is sure to find itself laced throughout the rest of his Live ’26 tour, picking back up this weekend on Friday, May 8, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and wrapping up abroad on November 5 in Dublin. These next few months are also bound to be jam-packed for the singer-songwriter, with the anticipated release of Johnson’s upcoming studio album, Banks of the Trinity, just less than two months away on June 26.