Dennis Rodman Takes the Stage in Deep Ellum To Sing the Blues

At The Free Man, the basketball legend also proclaimed he "built Deep Ellum."

September 16, 2024

Basketball legend Dennis Rodman. Screenshot from Facebook

Audio By Carbonatix

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Was "Dennis Rodman crashing the stage at a Deep Ellum bar" on your 2024 Dallas bingo card? It wasn't on ours, but if there's anything we know about Rodman, it's to always expect the unexpected.

During Sunday's Free Loaders Jazz Brunch at the Deep Ellum jazz venue/Cajun restaurant The Free Man, Facebook user Gary Atkinson posted a 40-second clip of the five-time NBA champion wielding a mic and wearing a shirt with his face on it. Behind him, the event's namesake, house band The Free Loaders, kept a rhythm. The video was captioned, "Deep ellum is the only place you will see Dennis Rodman performing in the middle of day lol."
Who knows how many drinks Rodman had to get in him before hopping on stage, but we’d expect that it's either startlingly high or startlingly low.

The Free Man Instagram account posted a story of a half-coherent Rodman at the bar, proclaiming, “I built Deep Ellum and people don’t even know that.”

“Dennis comes in a lot,” says Free Man owner John Jay Myers, who also drums and sings for The Free Loaders. “But this is the first time he sat in with The Free Loaders. It's always fun to see him, the guy is a hoot. He is my official ambassador to everywhere."

One could say Rodman rebounded from that monologue with a gravelly voiced intro to a blues song.

“He sang blues and funk,” Myers says. “He has a knack for it. Definitely a born entertainer.”

A small crowd gathered around once word spread that Rodzilla was on stage.

“People freaked out,” Myers says. “He let pretty much everyone take a pic with him.”

This isn't the first time a celebrity has crashed the stage of The Free Man for an impromptu concert. In October 2017, comedian Dave Chappelle, with members of Bruno Mars' band, gave a mini-concert no person ever would've expected.

It's good to see Rodman, who grew up in Oak Cliff, back on the Dallas streets again. Watching him have fun is way more charming when it's not at the potential expense of a sixth Michael Jordan title. He was once an habitué at the now-defunct Lizard Lounge, where he hung out with Madonna.

Hey, Dennis, if you’re really into this blues thing, might we suggest Reveler’s Hall or The Balcony Club next? Perhaps a mini jazz bar tour could be in the works.

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