Biggest Country Music Controversies Through the Years

Sometimes America’s sweethearts go bitter. From Morgan Wallen to The Chicks, the largest names in nation music have been at the heart of some main controversies.

Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer discovered themselves in scorching water in the early 2000s after sharing their private politics on a public stage. While performing throughout the pond, the trio — previously generally known as the Dixie Chicks — expressed their disappointment in then-President George W. Bush as he ready to ship troops to the Middle East.

“Just so you know, we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas,” Maines informed the crowd in 2003.

The remark unfold like wildfire, and the 13-time Grammy winners subsequently confronted penalties inside the business. Their report gross sales slowed and their songs have been blacklisted by the style’s main radio stations. Though she initially apologized, Maines informed TIME journal in 2006 that she had no regrets.

“I apologized for disrespecting the office of the President,” she mentioned. “But I don’t feel that way anymore. I don’t feel he is owed any respect whatsoever.”

After years away from the highlight, the “Everybody Knows” artists made a serious comeback in 2020, dropping the “Dixie” from their identify amid the rise in Black Lives Matter protests throughout the U.S. When requested about their prolonged hiatus — and whether or not it will have occurred with out their 2003 controversy — Maines informed The Guardian the group had “no complaints” about their trajectory.

“It’s just not in our nature to think like that,” the singer mentioned in July 2020. “It was unfortunate to learn that there was that sort of hatred. But we had our ego cups very filled. We weren’t grasping and desperate.”

More lately, Wallen skilled a ban of his personal. In February 2021, footage surfaced of the “7 Summers” crooner utilizing the N-word, prompting his label to briefly take away him from their roster. Despite not getting performed on some radio stations, Wallen’s report soared to the prime of the charts amid the backlash.

The “Cover Me Up” artist revealed in July 2021 that he spent 30 days in a therapy facility after the scandal broke. “I didn’t mean [the word] in any derogatory manner at all,” he informed Good Morning America at the time. “I think I was just ignorant about it. I don’t think I sat down and was like, ‘Hey, is this right or is this wrong?’”

Scroll right down to see a few of nation music’s largest controversies by way of the years, from dishonest scandals to authorized battles:

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