Who is Adam Mac? Kentucky Tobacco festival controversy explored amid 'promoting homos*xuality' claim

The country singer Adam Mac has dropped out of the Tobacco Festival after organizers of the show expressed concerns about him "promoting homos*xuality." Mac was supposed to headline the Logan County Tobacco and Heritage Festival, held in Russellville, Kentucky on October 14, 2023. However, according to The Independent, the concert's official Facebook page later canceled the show.

The country singer took to Instagram and TikTok on September 21, 2023, to explain his side of the story. Mac, who identifies as gay, expressed that he left the show due to questions surrounding his s*xuality. He added that the critics were "very upset" that he had chosen to headline the Kentucky event.

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Details about Adam Mac's life

Adam McPhaill, known by his stage name Adam Mac was born in small-town Russellville, Kentucky. He is known for his interest in 90s country and gospel music, which he was surrounded by while growing up.

According to Spotify, he was often coaxed by his mother to sing during Sunday service. Adam Mac talked about his musical inspirations in an interview with Medium and said that they included the likes of Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and Shania Twain.

Adam’s debut EP called The Fool reached over 220,000+ streams on Spotify. While talking about "expectations about masculinity," Adam Mac told Country Queer about being 100% himself in the music video of Disco Cowboy.

He added that he chose every outfit and created every choreography and storyline for the video.

"I really just wanted it to be a representation of q*eer celebration—without holding back—and I’m proud of that," Mac said.

Mac said he wanted to be a "beacon of light for others who need it" and if it was not for some people then he was totally fine with it.

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Adam Mac drops out from headlining the Tobacco Festival

The country music artist decided to remove himself from performing at this year's Grand Finale Concert of the Logan County Tobacco and Heritage Festival. The official Facebook page of the festival stated on September 21, 2023, that they would have to cancel the concert "due to circumstances beyond our control," as per Billboard.

A few hours later Adam Mac posted a video on social describing his reason for not headlining the concert. He began by saying that it wasn't the video he thought he would be making that day and spoke about receiving a call from the organizers of the Tobacco Festival.

Mac said that the person informed him that there were board members and people from the town who questioned the kind of performance he would be putting on.

The 33-year-old expressed he did not understand why the board and the townspeople had problems with his performance. The Independent had reported that the country singer had lived in Logan County for 21 years.

Mac then went on to allege that the organizers wanted to make sure that he wasn't "promoting homos*xuality or s*xuality in a family-friendly environment."

"I don’t really know what they expected I was gonna do other than just come and put on a h*ll of a show like we do," the singer said.

Adam Mac expressed his disappointment in having to cancel the event. He noted that he felt like he was letting down the people who needed to see him in that space. Adam added that the critics allegedly threatened to “protest at the show, which is just so disheartening.”

According to Billboard, Adam felt like he was "caving" if he backed out of the performance and he said it was "not something I like to do."

The One That Got Away singer earned a lot of support from his followers and other people in the LGBTQ+ community.