Zach Bryan has become one of the biggest stars in country music over the past few years, winning legions of fans with a unique blend of Americana, self-reflection, and heartfelt love songs, while staying far away from politics.
But that may be about to change, as the 29-year-old has waded into the political moment with a lament of the fading American dream and an attack on raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) around the country, a part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation program.
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“And ICE is gonna come, bust down your door /Try to build a house no one builds no more /But I got a telephone /Kids are all scared and all alone,” he sings in the song titled “Bad News,” a snippet of which he released on his Instagram page on Oct. 3.
Read More: Country Music Should Be Political. After All, It Always Has Been
Bryan has made a point in the past of staying away from politics and has brushed off any suggestion that his music is political. But many of his fans have assumed he leans to the right, given that most popular country music has been associated with the American right in recent years, despite outliers like Maren Morris, Tim McGraw, Kacey Musgraves. Bryan also praised Trump in the immediate aftermath of the attempt on his life last year and has been pictured with the president.
But Bryan, a Navy veteran who was born on a U.S. military base in Japan, also counts fierce Trump critic Bruce Springsteen as a musical hero, and called him “One of the greatest men to ever exist.” Springsteen has surprised audiences with appearances at several of Bryan’s shows last year and was featured on Bryan’s 2024 album, The Great American Bar Scene.
Read More: Bruce Springsteen’s Long Journey Home
In Bryan’s new song, he appears to have taken inspiration from Springsteen—known for his era-defining protest songs “Born in the U.S.A.” and “My Hometown”—while paying homage to his hero.
“The Boss stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling /The middle fingers rising and it won’t stop showing /I got some bad news /The fading of the Red, White and Blue,” Bryan sings.
Springsteen has made headlines more recently for his public criticism of President Trump.
“A lot of people bought into his lies,” Springsteen said in a recent interview with TIME. “He doesn’t care about the forgotten anybody but himself and the multibillionaires who stood behind him on Inauguration Day.”
Bryan’s lyrics appear to be dividing his fans already. The song became a trending topic on X as people dissected the new teaser track.
John Rich, a conservative country singer with 1.4 million followers on X, said: “Who’s ready for the Zach Bryan-Dixie Chicks tour? Prob a huge Bud Light sponsorship for this one,” referring to the American country band—now the Chicks—that changed their name to avoid association with the Confederacy and famously spoke out against George W. Bush’s administration, as well as the boycott against Bud Light for partnering with a transgender influencer.
“This is how you loose [sic] the majority of your fan base,” said another woman.
“Guess he forgot the people that support and listen to his music. Now, he’s just another has-been,” said another.
But Bryan may have won some new fans. Michelle Kinney, leader of the liberal superPAC The Seneca Project, praised the song and called for more artists to show “moral and artistic courage.”
“MORE OF THIS!!!” Kinney said on X.
Trump has dramatically increased immigration raids across the United States in his second term as he aims to meet his goal of carrying out the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S history. This weekend, witnesses described a military-style ICE raid on an apartment building in South Shore Chicago, in which children were pulled out of their apartments in the middle of the night, zip-tied, and put in vans.
Bryan released the song snippet just days after setting a record for the highest-attended ticketed concert in U.S. history, with 112,408 fans gathering to watch him perform at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.