Charley Crockett has canceled a string of shows scheduled in Canada over the next two weeks. In a statement shared on Instagram, the musician regretfully informed fans that he was denied entry into the country on two occasions this past weekend. The restriction stems from his felony conviction for marijuana possession dating back to 2014.
“Everybody’s got a past. Mine’s still haunting me,” Crockett wrote on Instagram. He attempted to enter Canada first through Vancouver, where he was promptly detained. He later made another attempt through Kelowna. After the second rejection, he wrote, “I’ve been advised that it would jeopardize my freedom to try and enter again.”
The report issued to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada notes that if Crockett had been detained in Canada for the same charges he faced in Virginia, the offense “would be punishable by a term of life imprisonment.” In March 2016, Crockett received a suspended sentence and was fined in addition to being placed on probation.
Crockett’s Canadian tour was scheduled to begin on Feb. 23 in Edmonton. Additional stops were set for Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Windsor, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Niagara Falls through March 6. He has performed in most of these cities as recently as 2024. Crockett will resume touring with more shows in the U.S. beginning March 7.
Canadian ticket holders will receive refunds at their point of purchase, though Crockett hopes to make it up to them eventually. “I apologize to everyone affected. I know I let y’all down,” he wrote. “Canada’s such a beautiful country full of some of the best fans in the world, and I’ve had the time of my life playing shows for y’all. I ain’t one to quit and I aim to be back one of these days real soon.”
Crockett has often spoken candidly about his past, and has weighed in on debates both political and musical. Earlier this month, in a lengthy Instagram post, the Texan wrote that “the country music establishment should be taking notes” from Bad Bunny and went on to call President Trump “a grifter.” Last summer, during an appearance on Rolling Stone‘s Nashville Now podcast, he elaborated on what he sees as the difference between outlaw country and pop-country.
“They call the outlaw movement a subgenre of commercial country, but today there’s no doubt in my mind, that what they’re calling pop country is most certainly a subgenre of outlaw,” Crockett said, adding that he thinks the pop-country industry is mostly vacuous.
“I don’t think they stand for anything. They stand for Auto-Tune and songs written by a committee,” he said. “Outlaw was about standing up for your rights against a very rigid music business system. In a game where you throw money at a young artist, and if it doesn’t work out, no problem, because there’s 1,000 standing behind you, well, a controversial figure is unlikely to ever rise.”
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