Brad Paisley, Jill Biden urge people in Tennessee to get vaccinated
Country music star Brad Paisley borrowed the famous Dolly Parton tune “Jolene” while promoting COVID-19 vaccinations on Tuesday with Jill Biden in Nashville.
“Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine,” Paisley belted to the tune of the 1973 hit, before crooning, “Don’t say no just because you can.”
Paisley was on hand for the second leg of a two-state visit by Biden on Thursday. The first lady toured a vaccination clinic in Mississippi before joining the “No I in Beer” singer at a pop-up vaccination site at the moonshine distillery in Tennessee.
Speaking at the distillery, Biden told the crowd, “This state still has a little bit of a way to go: Only three in 10 Tennesseans are vaccinated.”
After the audience booed, Biden exclaimed, “Well, you’re booing yourselves!”
“So that’s why I wanted to visit today, because your health and your family’s health matter to me and to your president,” she said.
The White House had acknowledged earlier on Tuesday that it would not reach its goal of having 70 percent of American adults receive at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine by July 4.
It’s not the first time the first lady has gotten a star-studded assist while encouraging the country to get vaccinated. Last month, Biden visited a West Virginia vaccination site alongside former “Alias” actor Jennifer Garner.
WATCH LIVE: First Lady Jill Biden has arrived at the pop-up vaccine clinic at Ole Smokey Distillery. https://t.co/UP8k7bQW0B https://t.co/H3hhubv9cB
— WSMV News4 Nashville (@WSMV) June 22, 2021
“Thank you for coming to our state for such a great cause,” Paisley said to Biden before performing several of his songs.
Paisley, who has called getting vaccinated “patriotic,” may have gotten the inspiration to put a vaccine-related spin on “Jolene” from Parton herself. The legendary singer, who donated $1 million to researchers to develop the vaccine, sung the same line from her song while sharing a video of herself receiving the shot back in March.
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