With this year’s Fourth of July celebration set to be a special one, country artists are ready to help mark the moment. Some will perform as part of official fireworks displays, and others — like Carrie Underwood — are thinking back to the un-official ones that become so unforgettable.
Chatting about her favorite Fourth of July memories, the country superstar had to go way back to her childhood days in Oklahoma. Back then, her family liked to shoot off their own fireworks … and Underwood got involved in a big way.
“I think my favorite Fourth of July memory would be going to the fireworks stand and picking out which fireworks I wanted to do,” she told her record label ahead of this year’s holiday. “I must’ve been like 7 or 8, and I came home and made a list of what order I wanted to do them in, because I wanted to put a show on for Mom and Dad — and of course, I couldn’t wait until it was dark outside. [Laughs]
“So, I made my Mom and Dad get the lawn chairs and come out to the backyard and watch some not very dramatic fireworks at like six o’clock in the evening, but I was so proud of myself, and I was so proud of the show that I put on,” the celebrated entertainer goes on. “I feel like that was a little training for what I do now – putting on shows, figuring out how it’s all going to work out.”
There’s no telling if Carrie Underwood continues that make-your-own-fireworks-show tradition with her own kids. But if not, there’s plenty of ways the family could enjoy country music and some explosive red, white and blue fun for 2021.
As COVID-19 restrictions ease across the nation, Brad Paisley will headline Nashville’s Let Freedom Sing Fourth of July celebration — known as the largest fireworks display in the nation. Meanwhile, Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton will be featured as part of the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC, and Alan Jackson and Mickey Guyton are set to perform during A Capitol Fourth on PBS.