Charley Crockett Cancels Canadian Tour After Being Denied Entry Due to 10-Year-Old Drug Conviction
"Everybody's got a past," the singer wrote while announcing the news.
Charley Crockett at the 2023 Ohana Festival held at Doheny State Beach on Sept. 30, 2023, in Dana Point, Calif.
Charley Crockett has canceled his Canadian tour dates after being unable to enter the country due to a 10-year-old drug possession charge, the country star announced Monday (Feb. 23) on Instagram.
Sharing a photo of a report from Canada’s immigration, refugees and citizenship department barring him from crossing its border, Crockett revealed that he’d been turned away due to an incident back in March 2016, in which he’d been convicted of carrying more than five pounds of marijuana with intent to sell in Virginia. “Everybody’s got a past,” he wrote in a screenshotted message to fans posted alongside the report. “Mine’s still haunting me.”
The singer went on to explain that he’d tried to “cross the Canadian border twice in 24 hours,” with patrol agents apparently denying him entry in both Vancouver and Kelowna. “I’ve been advised that it would jeopardize my freedom to try and enter again,” he continued, confirming that he’d need to cancel all of his upcoming dates in the Great White North. “I apologize to everyone affected. I know I let y’all down.”
Crockett’s fans in Canada can expect full refunds to be issued at their points of purchase, but he also wrote in his statement that he knows “this doesn’t begin to make up for y’all’s time and hard earned money.”
“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,” he added. “I ain’t one to quit and I aim to be back one of these days real soon.”
Billboard has reached out to Canada’s Border Services Agency for comment.
Crockett had been scheduled to kick off his Canadian trek on Saturday (Feb. 21) with a show at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver, which Live Nation British Columbia announced had been postponed “due to unforeseen circumstances” hours prior. He’d also had shows slated for the provinces of Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec that he’ll no longer be playing.
News of the cancelations comes just a few days after Crockett announced that his new album, Age of the Ram — his third LP in his “Sagebrush Trilogy” — will be dropping April 3. The first two installments in the series, Lonesome Drifter and Dollar a Day, came out in 2025.
See Crockett’s announcement below:
