How Country Music Became America’s Cultural Battleground

In 2023, America's most contentious conversations about politics and pressing social issues aren't just playing out on MSNBC and Fox News — they're raging in and around the world of country music. This year, people have debated gun laws in the comments section of a Jason Aldean video, questioned the government through the lens of an Oliver Anthony song and vowed to boycott Garth Brooks Nashville bar due to his stance on LGBTQ inclusiveness. At the GOP presidential debate in August, Anthony's controversial chart-topping single "Rich Men North of Richmond" even became the jumping-off point for an attack on "Bidenomics."

Country music has always had its ideological divides, but in the past few years, struggles between the genre's conservative and progressive wings have intensified. At the same time, country artists are reaching more ears then ever, with artists such as Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs and now Anthony and Luke Bryan dominating the Billboard charts. The result is a world in which divisions within country music are reflecting broader cultural rifts, and even in some cases helping to intensify them. Here's how we got to this point.

2020, a year of reckoning

Due to the twin national crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing protests, 2020 was one of the most fraught years in America's recent history. And all across culture, artists channeled their views on what was unfolding in front of them into their work and public statements. Luke Combs released "Six Feet Apart" about staying strong while being away from your loved ones, while Miranda Lambert addressed staying positive during tough times in "Bluebird."

Others were more explicit, like Tyler Childers, whose "Long Violent History" touched on racism and police brutality, or Maren Morris, whose music video for "Better Than We Found It" featured images of Black Lives Matter posters. Meanwhile, the Dixie Chicks cut the "Dixie" and Lady Antebellum rebranded to "Lady A" after acknowledging their band name's associations with slavery. These acts led to a conversation around country music's enduring race problem, and spread alongside the broader discussion around racism in America. Later, these debates would only intensify.

Morgan Wallen rises, falls and rises again, and fellow artists push back

In October of 2020, rising country star Morgan Wallen was slated to perform on Saturday Night Live in support of his second album, but got the boot when videos circulated of the singer-songwriter partying without a mask. Wallen apologized and was re-invited to appear on the show in December, and then another bomb dropped. Early in 2021, Wallen was caught using the N-word in another viral video and he was suspended by his record label.

The video underscored the racial reckoning already brewing in country music. Country artist Mickey Guyton, who released her song "Black Like Me" amid the George Floyd protests, called out Wallen, saying "the hate runs deep" and asking "how many passes" he'd get from fans and the industry. "When I read comments saying 'this is not who we are' I laugh because this is exactly who country music is. I've witnessed it for 10 gd years," she tweeted. "You guys should just read some of the vile comments hurled at me on a daily basis. It's a cold hard truth to face but it is the truth."

Guyton's response buoyed the conversation around racism in country music. More country artists began to speak out against the Wallen video and the history of inequality in the genre. Radio companies like iHeartMedia, Cumulus and Entercom pulled Wallen’s songs from their stations, while streaming services cut him from playlists and CMT stopped showing his videos. The Academy of Country Music disqualified Wallen from the 2021 ACM Awards. But at the same time, the country singer's sophomore LP Dangerous: The Double Album sat atop the Billboard 200 chart for three weeks.

Now, as the news cycle has churned on, Wallen is selling out stadiums. His song "Last Night" joined an elite class of hit singles this year, spending 16 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, now in a three-way tie for second place on the list of songs with the most weeks ever atop the chart. Wallen's swift recovery has provoked debates about cancel culture and casual racism.

As country music booms, debates rage

Streaming has fueled country music's ascent to the mainstream, currently led by artists like Combs, Wallen and newcomer-slash-chart-topper Zach Bryan. Combs' cover of "Fast Car" has been at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 23 weeks and counting, and he's currently making history by claiming both No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the country airplay chart.

Country's booming popularity has dovetailed with contentious social debates, attracting a weighted spotlight on the genre and making it hard for artists to stay silent on certain issues. Bryan called out his fellow country singers' transphobia after veteran Travis Tritt claimed he'd be "deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider" following a Bud Light promotion that featured transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The Bud Light controversy made national news, as did country singers' support and outrage in response to the campaign.

There were country figures like Kid Rock and John Rich, both of whom boycotted the beer brand. And there were artists who spoke out in support of Bud Light, like Bryan and Jason Isbell. Garth Brooks doubled down on his inclusive stance, continuing to carry Bud Light in his Nashville bar and saying "I get it. Everyone's got their opinions, but inclusiveness is always going to be me. I think diversity is the answer, and the answer to the problems that are coming."

The Bud Light debate came in the wake of a flap last year in which Maren Morris dissed Jason Aldean's wife for making transphobic comments on social media. Brittany Aldean posted on Instagram, "I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life." And Morris later tweeted, "It's so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie."

"Try That in a Small Town" and "Rich Men North of Richmond" top charts while stirring up controversy

Depending on whose perspective you were taking in, country mainstay Jason Aldean became either the hero or arch-villain of the internet with his May single "Try That in Small Town." The song, which includes lyrics about gun ownership and messaging that could be construed as a call to violence, and its music video, which was filmed at the site of a lynching in Tennessee, were removed from Country Music Television following backlash. In the wake of fierce debates about the song, it briefly topped the Billboard Hot 100.

Five or 10 years ago, before country's many recent controversies and the ongoing self-inventory in the genre that's resulted, this kind of thing might have slid under the radar, but with the spotlight on country music, it made headlines. As did Oliver Anthony, the viral country star who seemingly came out of nowhere. Last month, the singer-songwriter became the first artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 without any prior chart history after his song "Rich Men North of Richmond" stirred controversy on both sides of the political spectrum. 

The single was first championed by right-wing pundits due to its apparent critique of taxes and people taking advantage of welfare. Later, it even became a talking point during a Republican debate. But Anthony rejected the praise, saying that he finds it "aggravating seeing people on conservative news trying to identify with me like I'm one of them." He went on to assert his neither-side point-of-view, claiming to be "pretty dead-center down the aisle on politics." Anthony has been steadfast on refusing a political pigeonhole, to the dismay of fans and critics urging him to publicly pick a side. 

"Like all industries, we're not immune from the external pressures and the world at large," R.J. Romeo, president of the leading country talent agency Romeo Entertainment Group recently told Rolling Stone in a story about how the genre is currently split by the culture wars raging within and around it. "So naturally, there’s more divisiveness in the country now than ever before. That’s going to show up in opinions on music and everything."

With country's market share showing no signs of decreasing, it seems like a matter of time before the next national debate ignites — not just over pressing social and political issues, but over the way these issues are playing out in a musical genre that's become a stand-in for heated national conversations.