Lindsay Ell’s ‘Personal Life’ Causes Problems With Radio Station Visit

After a Sacramento, Calif., radio station canceled a scheduled performance by Lindsay Ell due to her dating life, the singer spoke out on her Twitter account, prompting the station to make a statement about the decision.

On Friday afternoon (June 16), Ell tweeted that a Sacramento radio station "has asked me not to come [to a scheduled performance because] of my personal life." Although Ell did not name the station in question, the Washington Post deduced that it was KNCI (105.1 FM), which is owned by CBS; the station had been promoting a performance by both Ell and Chase Bryant, who were in Sacramento to open Brad Paisley's Friday night stop on his Weekend Warrior Tour.

Ell is dating country radio host Bobby Bones, whose syndicated morning show, The Bobby Bones Show, airs on a number of iHeartMedia country radio stations, including Sacramento's the Bull (92.5 FM) -- a rival station of KNCI. Bones and Ell do not often talk about their relationship publicly; in a tweet sent on Friday morning, Ell responded to a fan who was asking if they were still together that "[e]verything is good! Some people just won’t play my music if I talk about my personal life ..."

In response to Ell's tweet about her canceled concert, a number of fans voiced their displeasure. In a statement to the Washington Post, KNCI calls their cancellation of Ell's set a "bad decision."

“Lindsay is an amazingly talented, up-and-coming artist, and today, we regrettably made a bad decision to cancel her show,” KNCI says. “We only hope that she — and our listeners — will forgive us, and that Lindsay and her team will allow us to reschedule the show.”

In place of Ell's canceled concert, the Bull invited disappointed fans to come to their studio for a set from Ell. The station also declared Friday "Lindsay Ell Day" in Sacramento. For his part, Bones tweeted out a photo of the Bull's "Lindsay Ell Day" proclamation, stating, "I’ve stayed out of this. Not my fight. and frankly, @lindsayell can handle herself."

In late March, Ell released her debut EP, Worth the Wait, on Stoney Creek Records. A native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the artist is well respected for her guitar skills; in the late 2000s, she toured with renowned guitarist Buddy Guy.

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