WATCH: Cody Johnson Calls for Unity in Powerful Speech, Leads Emotional ‘God Bless America’ Performance

Cody Johnson has never been one to hold back when it comes to sharing his opinions, his feelings, or his love for the United States of America. And if you’ve ever seen him live, you know he often uses his platform to express his patriotism.

That’s exactly what happened on September 12, 2025, during his concert in Lincoln, Nebraska. In the midst of a heavy week, marked by the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a school shooting in Colorado, and the 24th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Johnson paused his set to deliver a heartfelt message of unity.

Performing the first of two sold-out nights at Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Texas native spoke directly to the crowd before leading them in a powerful performance of “God Bless America,” a moment that appeared to bring him to tears.

The speech was captured on TikTok, giving fans everywhere a chance to witness Johnson’s emotional tribute.

This is my microphone. I bought this microphone and I have the right to say whatever I want to on it. I’m sick of division. I’m sick of it. I’ve been watching it for five years. Five years ago in 2020, social media and news and politics tried to divide us all on a lot of things. They tried to divide us over vaccines, over masks, over public, or what do you call it, social distancing. I never once did that, by the way. Never took a vaccine, never wore a mask. I just stayed at home. They tried to divide us on race, on gender, on how you voted. All those things are American rights. And I want to tell you right now, I’m sick… after the things that have happened this week. I’m not even going to go into it. That’s not why you came here. But I’m sick and tired of division. I’m sick and tired of living where people think it’s okay to hate somebody so much over something that they have to do something stupid.

@laurenbro1 Cody Johnson gets emotional during his speech & sings God Bless America night 1 in Lincoln. 🇺🇸 #cojo #charliekirk #usa ♬ original sound – lauren✨

I’ll say this, the week and the day, and the year, all that, Dr. Martin Luther King got shot was one of the worst days in American history. And I think this week we’ve seen another day like that. And I’m going to tell you right now, I’m not doing division anymore. I’ll always stand on this stage and say, I believe in Jesus. I’ll always stand on this stage and I’ll say, the only reason we’re free in this country is because men and women gave their life. Do you know why? It’s okay to disagree with each other in this country? This is what they try to tell you. ‘You don’t agree with him. So now y’all got to hate each other or you don’t agree with her. And now we have to hate each other.’ Lemme tell you something, the reason it’s okay to disagree with someone in this country and still love them anyway, no matter the circumstances, it’s because before most of us were born, an American soldier died for our freedom to disagree with each other. 

Yes, every one of our walks is different. Every one of our backgrounds is different. We all have different trials, we all have different things that bring us down. But there are three things that bind us together no matter what. No matter who’s an idiot, who wants to do something stupid, no matter who’s complaining, no matter who’s telling you that this country’s going down the tube, there’s three things that still matter. And if you believe in ’em, they’re this simple: red, white, and blue. 

So tonight I want to do something out of unity… Gentlemen, if you’d remove your cover, we’re going to sing a song together out of unity and not division tonight.

The emotional moment culminated in a full-venue singalong, with the crowd joining in before erupting into chants of ‘USA’ that echoed throughout the arena.