Queen's Death Sparks Demand for Garth Brooks to Cancel Ireland Concerts

Country music icon Garth Brooks is playing his first of several shows in Ireland starting Friday, but not everyone is happy.

Some are calling on the Oklahoman to cancel his upcoming concerts following the news that Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday at age 96.

"Garth Brooks should cancel his Dublin gigs as a mark of respect," one Twitter user wrote.

Others are similarly demanding that the country star scrap his Ireland shows—not because the queen has died—but in the name of good music.

"Do you think Garth Brooks will cancel the concerts scheduled to go on this weekend? Ya know, out of respect ... not for the Queen but just for the Irish people," someone tweeted on Thursday.

Another Twitter user even whipped out some Irish slang with their Brooks diss.

"They should cancel all Garth Brooks gigs out of respect," the person wrote in a tweet. "Not for the queen but for everyone in Dublin who will have to deal with an influx of over 400k culchies over 5 days." Dictionary.com defines "culchie" as an informal Irish word for a "rough or unsophisticated country-dweller from outside Dublin."

If the Ireland shows carry on as planned, they'll mark the first time Brooks has performed there in 25 years, The Irish Mirror noted. Eight years ago, Irish fans were devastated after the country singer had to cancel a five-show run because of a planning dispute.

Internet publication The Journal.ie shed light on why the American musician has so many Irish fans.

"If there is some psycho-social explanation for Ireland's affinity with the Oklahoman, perhaps it is the lack of reciprocal love we share with our own superstars," The Journal.ie wrote. "After all, for well over a century now, some of our best known artists have been quick to leave our shores to pen their greatest works, make their magna opera and, in some cases, pay their income taxes."

CNN correspondent Donie O'Sullivan further helped quantify Ireland's love of Brooks.

"Garth Brooks is going to play for 400,000 people in Ireland this weekend," O'Sullivan said in a Friday tweet. "That's about 6% of the whole population of the island. % equivalent of him playing for about 20 million people in the US in one weekend."

The songwriter has gotten flak over his choice in performances before.

Certain country music lovers condemned Brooks for his decision to sing "Amazing Grace" during President Joe Biden's inauguration in January 2021. Some conservative fans were also upset that he gave former President Barack Obama a hug after that performance.

Newsweek has reached out to a representative of Brooks for comment.