Maren Morris’ ‘Lunatics’ Show Out in Style for Girls Just Wanna Weekend [Picture]
Maren Morris and the Highwomen headed to Mexico this week to perform at Brandi Carlile's 2023 Girls Just Wanna Weekend, and fans greeted them with a warm welcome when they got there.
In fact, Morris shared one fan snapshot that she says had her "already crying before I even hit the stage."
The photo shows a huge group of fans all wearing their "Maren Morris: Lunatic Country Music Person" T-shirts as they gathered before the concert.
"*Full gulp to stifle sobs*," Morris wrote alongside the image. "Thank you lunatics."
For the uninitiated, the "Lunatic Country Music Person" tee dates back to a 2022 feud between Morris and Jason Aldean's wife, Brittany. It all started with an Instagram Reel that Aldean shared in which she wrote, "I'd really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life."
Morris — along with her friend and former tourmate Cassadee Pope — denounced Aldean's post as transphobic hate speech, dubbing her "insurrection Barbie" and a "scumbag human." From there, things escalated, with stars like Carlile, RaeLynn and even Candace Owens jumping in to voice their support for one side or another. Aldean returned with a limited-edition T-shirt line that embraced the Barbie moniker and bore the phrase "Don't Tread on Our Kids," explaining that she was donating proceeds to Operation Light Shine, a Nashville-based organization that fights human trafficking and child exploitation.
Here's where the "Lunatic Country Music Person" phrase comes into play: In the midst of the social media feud, Aldean appeared during an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox's Tucker Carlson Tonight. During that conversation, Carlson described Morris as a "lunatic," and a photo of her appeared on the television screen with a banner reading "Lunatic Country Music Person" appeared across the bottom of the screen.
Morris embraced the descriptor and matched Aldean's T-shirt design with one of her own: The black tee design that reads "Maren Morris: Lunatic Country Music Person." She split the proceeds between the Trans Lifeline and the GLAAD Transgender Media Program. Sales of the t-shirt raked in $100,000 in support of trans youth in just one day.
And at Girls Just Wanna Weekend, Morris got to see exactly who the fans were that made it all possible. The significance of the support from her fans wasn't lost on the singer, who was so moved by the image that she shared it on her Instagram Stories, as a standalone Instagram post and on Twitter.
"Who would have predicted that some dumb interview last year would birth the funniest and most loving moment?" the singer writes on Twitter. "Thanks, Lunatics and [Brandi Carlile] for this magical week."