Country music stars are celebrities with massive platforms and the ear of a whole fan base. They’ve already connected to fans lives through music. Why shouldn’t they be expected to use that power to raise awareness for important humanitarian issues?

But on the other hand, they’re artists, not professional speakers or political commentators. Is it really fair to expect them to speak about politics to millions of people?

The Rise and Fall of “Shut Up and Sing”

To a longtime country fan, the question of whether or not country stars “owe it” to fans to speak on politics is a funny one, because for a long time, it seemed like the default was for stars not to say anything at all.

That’s not to say country stars don’t speak out. In fact, if you look at the genre’s entire history, it’s been pretty common for them to do so.

Loretta Lynn endorsed Republican George H.W. Bush for President back in 1988. Johnny Cash championed prison reform and covered Woody Guthrie’s pro-immigration “Deportee.” Willie Nelson and Charlie Daniels have never concealed their (opposing) political views from listeners.

Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire are two longstanding stars who have consistently side-stepped political questions, sometimes with the explanation that it’s the entertainer’s job to alleviate, not add to, cultural division.

But surely another factor is that artists want to relate to as large a cross-section of their base as possible. Artists (and their labels) want to make as much money as possible, too. And the wrong comment at the wrong time can blackball an artist, for good.

The Chicks all but lost their career when they publicly disapproved of the Pres. George W. Bush-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The ousting was total and pervasive. The band wouldn’t mount a full comeback until 2020, and they never got back into country radio’s good graces.

Their story is probably part of the reason why a lot of country stars stayed tight-lipped for the decade or so afterward.The sentiment that an artist should “stay quiet or get Dixie Chicked” is still a pretty common one among today’s fans.

Trump’s Presidency Galvanized National — And Country Music — Divides

In 2017, the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting — which remains the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in U.S. history — spurred several country singers to speak in favor of gun control legislation, even if they hadn’t previously been vocal on politics.

Eric Church, Tim McGraw and Maren Morris were among those who spoke out, and Jason Aldean — who had been onstage when the shooting occurred — said at the time that it was “too easy to get guns.”

That tragedy brought country music into political crosshairs, and in the years that followed, there would be more and more occasion for music and politics to intersect.

During Pres. Donald Trump’s first term of office, Aldean and his wife Brittany became increasingly vocal in their support for the president. Stars such as John Rich and Kid Rock were already openly pro-Trump, but Aldean was perhaps the biggest country radio player to embrace MAGA, and he inspired others — Chris Janson, Brian Kelley, RaeLynn — to join him.

Read More: Country Music’s Current Feuds + Beefs

Parallel to that were left-leaning artists more willing to make their voices heard. Maren Morris and Brittany Aldean were embroiled in a heated feud around this time, stemming from some transphobic comments Brittany made on social media.

Read More: Maren Morris Doesn’t Regret Brittany Aldean Feud

Neutrality was growing harder to avoid, even for the singers who presumably wanted to.

Look at the 2026 Grammys, when McEntire pushed through a crowd to shake Bad Bunny’s hand after he won Album of the Year. Is it good industry etiquette to congratulate the artist who just won the night’s top award? Yep, always has been.

Read More: Reba McEntire Had Something to Say to Bad Bunny at the Grammys

Is it a loaded action? McEntire might not’ve seen it that way. But amid the fracas of the Super Bowl, its competing Turning Point USA Halftime show and Bad Bunny’s acceptance speech about ICE, you bet it is.

Country Stars Sharing Their Political Views is a Good Thing

As more country stars spoke out, on both sides, they often seemed, well, relieved — like they could finally stop suppressing a part of themselves they’d been keeping hidden.

After Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Sept. 2025 — a catalyst event that heightened political views to an even more piercing fever pitch — Nate Smith posted a photo of himself onstage, tearfully holding up a red “Make America Great Again” hat. Up until now, he’d stayed relatively quiet on politics.

A follow-up video framed the moment as Smith finally being able to share his true self with the public. “Being able to live fully, authentically who I am in front of everybody just felt right,” he reflected, calling it “the proudest moment of my entire career so far.”

Bryan Andrews, an artist whose left leanings are central to his music, told Taste of Country last fall that he’s glad Nate Smith spoke out.

Andrews is no fan of Smith’s opinions — they actually once had a pretty bitter exchange on social media — but he thinks country singers coming out as MAGA opens a door for honest dialogue.

“It’s a conversation that needed to be started in country music a long time ago,” Andrews explained. “I know that labels and stuff used to say, ‘Never talk about your politics.’ Dude, f–k that. It’s a new age of music. It’s a new age of the industry itself, and it’s a new age of listeners.”

Which brings us back to the 2026 Grammys. That night, artists from all genres were wearing “ICE Out” pins and using their time in front of the cameras to speak out against the immigration agency’s actions in Minneapolis and nationwide. Margo Price wore an “ICE Out” pin, and Shaboozey voiced his support for immigrant families during his acceptance speech.

But the biggest country winner of the night — Jelly Roll — didn’t add his voice to that conversation, even when someone backstage in the press room directly asked him to.

Jelly Roll Declines to Answer an ICE Question at the 2026 Grammys

One popular argument says singers aren’t qualified to speak on political issues. If you believe that, then it made sense for Jelly to side-step the question by calling himself a “dumb redneck” and saying fans shouldn’t put any weight behind his opinion.

Read More: Why Jelly Roll Didn’t Share His Political Views at the Grammys

He had some compelling context behind that quip. Jelly grew up in an apolitical household plagued by addiction, and the whole family was in survival mode. He also takes breaks from phones between tours and doesn’t have social media on them when he does. And he vowed to learn about the issue and share his views.

But a lot of fans weren’t satisfied with that, especially since, as the weeks since the Grammys pass, Jelly hasn’t circled back to the point as promised.

And they’ve got a point. Even if you don’t believe that all private citizens have a responsibility to keep up with major national issues, Jelly has some personal backstory that makes it reasonable to wonder if he’d have an insightful perspective on ICE. His wife, Bunnie Xo, is the grandchild of Brazilian immigrants. He also has a history of being incarcerated and convicted on a felony charge, and has more experience with the justice system than most country stars do.

In fact, Jelly once testified to lawmakers about his experience with the opioid epidemic, pushing for a new legislative initiative that would address the availability of fentanyl.

Critics of his non-statement also pointed out that Jelly’s met (and spoken glowingly about meeting) Trump, and that Jelly is still listed as a headlining act on Kid Rock’s MAGA-friendly and controversial Rock the Country Festival this summer.

Read More: More Artists Pull Out of Kid Rock’s Rock the Country Festival

No country star should feel forced to publicly espouse a political position. But to many fans, Jelly already did — by choosing to be around this president, and play this festival. His refusal to verbally back that up feels, to many, a little cowardly, like he’s trying to pander to as many demographics as possible.

Lee Brice Stirs Up Controversy With “Country Nowadays”

Those fans ran into that same frustration about a week later when the Turning Point USA Halftime Show rolled around, and Lee Brice and Brantley Gilbert both offered statements saying they weren’t trying to be divisive by joining the bill.

But is anyone believing that they truly thought they could play this show without sowing division?

This is an event that was created in direct opposition to the NFL’s choice to book Bad Bunny as a Super Bowl headliner, hosted by an organization whose founder has been one of the most politically polarizing figures of the past year (Charlie Kirk). This show was inherently divisive and inherently political from the get-go. It’s simply not credible for Brice and Gilbert to say that they ever thought otherwise.

Read More: Lee Brice’s ‘Country Nowadays’ Lyrics Caused Division

Brice’s performance drew the most controversy after the show, since he debuted (and later released) a song called “Country Nowadays” that leans hard on an “aw, shucks” delivery to soften the implication that somehow transgender people’s existence makes it hard for him to hunt, fish, grow corn and feed his dogs.

It’s a blisteringly bad song, and even more disappointing when you remember that it’s from the same artist who put out “Boy” and “I Drive Your Truck,” two songs that tell essential stories about what it’s like to live rurally and immersed in a country lifestyle.

If it sounds like we’re oversimplifying the conflict going on in “Country Nowadays,” we probably are — but so is Brice.

The problem is that there’s almost no message here. He sings about things in his life that he holds sacred, and makes a negative reference to transgender issues, but he doesn’t connect the two in any real way other than stir up a previously-existing disapproval of transgender rights within his right-leaning base.

It’s all a bunch of buzz words and vague indignation thrown over a guitar line.

Country Stars Don’t Have to Speak Out — But They Shouldn’t Play Dumb

For better or worse, today’s caustic political climate has drastically scaled back what a musician can do without fans assuming they’re endorsing one side or the other. Toby Keith, for example, played at an event for Barack Obama (as well as events for Bush and Trump.) In the public eye, that didn’t necessarily make a fan.

But by the time Carrie Underwood sang at Trump’s second inauguration in 2025, most listeners figured it was because she voted for him.

The MAGA label has stuck with her: Just look at the comments under this seemingly innocuous tweet teasing Hollywood Week on American Idol!

Yes, it’s harder to remain apolitical as a country singer than it once was. But artists know that, and they’re free to turn down performances or events that will bring their politics into the spotlight. Doing so should be a valid choice.

But the artists who do choose to wade into political performance (and enjoy the praise from that demographic) should also be ready to express their full positions.

Lee Brice should be talking about the specific issues he cares about instead of making reactive fish jokes in response to the Internet and late-night television mocking his song. Jelly should have an open conversation with his fans about immigration issues, even if he’s not an expert on the topic. Underwood should be willing to field questions about her political leanings.

If they don’t, it feels like they’re more interested in being relatable and growing their brands than they are in being their authentic selves. There’s nothing country about that.