‘I’m here to party with America’ – One America News Network

OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
12:51 AM – Saturday, May 30, 2026

Rapper and singer Vanilla Ice expressed excitement about performing at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., despite other artists dropping out of their planned performances.

Vanilla Ice was asked by TMZ on Friday about how political America’s birthday has felt since country singer Martina McBride and rock artist Bret Michaels dropped out, citing concerns that the event was not as “nonpartisan” as advertised.

“Oh man, I’m not going to get dragged into that. I’m here to party with America, man. Music is made to bring people together and that’s what we’re here to do, man. We’re just gonna represent the 90s,” the artist explained.

The “Ice Ice Baby” singer urged people to avoid taking the Semiquincentennial too seriously.

“I don’t take anything too serious, I don’t think anybody else should. I think that we should just dance,” he said. “Y’know it’s life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and you gotta get out and pursue it with dance.”

He later added that the event is purely a celebration of the country, and that he would perform regardless of who invited him, even former President Joe Biden or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It’s all about just us making it this far … I don’t think that it should be about any political thing or anything like that — I don’t even vote, so I don’t even care,” he said. “And if Biden called up and he said, ‘My daughter’s getting married, we need Vanilla Ice,’ I’d go play! It’s not a big thing. You play for your fans. You know, we don’t get a chance to pick our fans, they pick us. And I’ll go play for Putin and I’ll play in Iran if you want. It don’t matter. There’s fans everywhere. Music is not political, man, it’s universal.”

 

The 58-year-old, whose name is Robert Van Winkle, reiterated his message about the universal nature of music and his excitement for the once-in-a-lifetime celebration, which he called an “epic party,” in a video posted on Instagram.

“It’s all about enjoying the great times of 250 years, man, from George Washington to now and all the presidents and everybody in between. This is a magical event that’s going to happen and very rare,” the “Ninja Rap” singer said. “We’re going to turn everybody into a teenager for the night. Proud to be an American and proud and honored for this event.”

“I’m tired of all the news channels dividing this country,” his caption read. “We are all one. This is not a political platform.”

 

Vanilla Ice was among several artists scheduled for musical performances at the Great American State Fair, to take place from June 25^th through July 10^th on the National Mall. In the days after Freedom 250 released the lineup, some artists backed out, issuing public statements.

“I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading,” McBride stated.

“Things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening,” she added.

 

Many were quick to point out that McBride had previously performed at a White House event during the Obama administration in 2009.

Bret Michaels had similar concerns that the birthday celebration “evolved into something much more divisive than what [he] agreed to be a part of,” though he also cited “threats and safety concerns.”