Vanilla Ice Gets Burned Over Coronavirus Hot Spot Gig In Austin, Texas [UPDATE]

UPDATE: 3:05 p.m. Vanilla Ice announced Thursday he will postpone his Friday show in Austin, Texas, after poor ticket sales and criticism of the rapper for performing during the coronavirus pandemic.

PREVIOUSLY:

Vanilla Ice is catching heat over his planned gig in a coronavirus hot spot.

The rapper, best known for his ’90s hit “Ice Ice Baby ,” is scheduled to perform in Austin, Texas, on Friday at the Emerald Point Bar & Grill’s Independence Day Throwback Beach Party.

But both Austin and Texas this week experienced record spikes in the number of new cases of COVID-19.

Vanilla Ice, real name Robert Van Winkle, has promoted the party on Instagram.

“Get ready to go back to The 90s, the greatest decade ever,” he wrote in a since-deleted post.

“I can’t wait to get back to this. The 90s were the best,” he said in another post.

“We didn’t have coronavirus, or cell phones, or computers,” the musician incorrectly reminisced. Computers and cellphones did indeed exist back then.

News of the gig inevitably got the treatment on Twitter.

Some people reimagined the title of, and lyrics to, his most famous track:

Others poked fun and expressed shock at the idea of the gig going ahead at all:

Bars across Texas are currently banned from opening, in an effort to slow the spread of the virus that has killed almost 130,000 people nationwide.

But the venue on the shore of Lake Travis can remain open and host the Vanilla Ice gig, The Austin Chronicle reported, because it’s technically designated as a restaurant.

Capacity for the concert will be limited to 450 people, and staff will take attendees’ temperatures and request they adhere to social distancing measures and wear face masks, owner Barret Brannam told The Texas Tribune .

Brannam wouldn’t enforce the mask policy, however, because “I’m not their mom and dad, [and] I can’t make them do it,” he told the Tribune.

VIP tickets for Vanilla Ice’s performance, which cost between $160 and $300 , have sold out. The venue is also hosting parties on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday nights: