NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Country music’s "Redneck Woman" promises to keep her can of Skoal in her back pocket from now on.
Tennessee’s attorney general had asked Gretchen Wilson not to pull out a can of smokeless tobacco during performances of her song "Skoal Ring" because doing so glamorized tobacco use. A warning letter said the routine might violate the 1998 tobacco settlement, which forbids tobacco ads targeting young people.
Attorney General Paul Summers said the singer’s representative apologized Friday and said Wilson will not use the Skoal can in concert again. It was not used at a Cincinnati concert Thursday night, Summers’ office said.
"I appreciate Ms. Wilson’s attitude," Summers said in a news release. "I thank her very much. This quick and positive response speaks well of her as a professional artist, as a good citizen, as a parent and as a role model for youth."
Wilson won wide acclaim and a Grammy with her debut single, "Redneck Woman," a defiant anthem of girl power.
"Skoal Ring," from her upcoming album, "All Jacked Up," refers to the wear mark the tobacco cans leave in blue jeans pockets.
Wilson also said through her representative that she has no relationship with U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., the manufacturer of Skoal.
The fact that Wilson has agreed to quit displaying the Skoal can "pretty much resolves the issue," said the attorney general’s spokeswoman, Sharon Curtis-Flair.
Calls to Wilson’s representatives at her music label, Sony Music Nashville, were not immediately returned Friday.
