Kelsea Ballerini + Little Big Town Meet the Viral ‘Corn Kid’ on Opening Night of ‘Shucked’ [Watch]
The country musical Shucked opened on Broadway on Tuesday night (April 4), with music and lyrics headed up by Brandy Clark and star songwriter Shane McAnally.
The stars came out to support the show's opening night, and among them was one very special attendee: Seven-year-old Tariq, aka the Corn Kid, whose love of corn has spread so far and wide that he was named the official Corn-Bassador of South Dakota.
Even the celebrity country attendees at the show were starstruck when they met Tariq. Kelsea Ballerini — who was walking the carpet dressed in corn-yellow, with her boyfriend Chase Stokes on her arm — knelt down to interview Tariq when she recognized him before the show.
The four members of Little Big Town got in on the corny fun, too. When they encountered Tariq on the red carpet, they just had to stop and pose for pictures, and they even pulled off a classic jump shot as they all yelled Tariq's signature catchphrase, "It's corn!"
Tariq's claim to fame dates back to a summer 2022 interview with social media interview series Recess Therapy, in which the young boy expounded on his love of corn. "Everything changed" when he tried it with butter, Tariq explains in the viral clip, also describing corn as "a big lump with knobs" and approvingly adding, "It has the juice!" Since then, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has declared Sept. 3 as Official Corn-Bassador Tariq Day.
Tariq's interview has since been made into a song, and country stars got in on the viral fun — for example, Blake Shelton mashed it up with his own song, "Corn," in a social media post last August.