Record Label For “Applebee’s Song” Guy Walker Hayes Implodes

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There is a theory, or perhaps more of a fear, that even the most loathed music of a moment will go on to be revered by future generations due to the strong pull of nostalgia. Even in the height of Bro-Country and the culture-wide backlash surrounding it, folks surmised that present and future generations would be jamming to Florida Georgia Line and Walker Hayes years from now, despite their polarization among many listeners.

Perhaps that will be the case. We’ll have to wait until the future to see. But what’s for sure is that things are not been going well for some of the most reviled artists and bands from the last decade of country music.

Of course Florida Georgia Line went defunct in 2022. And not only are the Kings of Bro-Country no longer a going concern, they’re in outright war with each other, with Brian Kelley releasing diss tracks against his former bandmate Tyler Hubbard. Though Sam Hunt is still officially active, he’s released all of two albums in the last 11 years, hasn’t had a #1 single in a couple of years, and his last track stalled at #23 on the airplay charts.

That leaves only one more name of the most vilified of country music mainstream vermin: Walker Hayes. And he just got his pink slip as his record label has officially imploded. Yes, the “Applebee’s Song” singer (officially called “Fancy Like”), and country music’s King of bad white boy pseudo-rapping songs composed in his garage is currently out on the street after Monument Records has announced its dissolution.

Started by music manager Jason Owen of Sandbox Entertainment, and songwriter/producer Shane McAnally, Monument Records was a 2017 relaunch of a label first founded in 1958, and worked under the Sony Music tree. One of the first artists on the label was the critically-acclaimed Caitlyn Smith, though she left the label sometime previously. Walker Hayes was of course the cash cow for the label. But despite the viral success of “Fancy Like” and other tracks, the polarizing nature of Walker Hays and his wildly inconsistent single performances meant his career just wasn’t sustainable enough in the long term.

The label was also home at times to Brandon Ratcliff, Alex Hall, Shelby Lynne, and Clay Street Unit. Monument’s most recent project was female duo Tigirlily Gold, who despite being forced down the throat of mainstream consumers, has found difficulty finding traction. Nonetheless, they are the one act on the label that will move to Sony proper after the Monument Records shuttering. The label’s General Manager Katie McCartney has officially departed, with Jason Owen and Shane McAnally going back to their previous duties full-time.

Does this mean we can fully bid adieu to the completely forgettable career of the Applebee’s guy for good? There’s always a chance another label could take a chance on him, but it’s not looking good. As country is now the hottest commodity in country music as opposed to whatever you want to call the music of Walker Hayes, it’s hard to see a bidding war ensuing. If Sony still wanted him, they would have kept him.

So maybe there is hope for the future, meaning a future where fond recollection doesn’t result in a rehabilitation of songs and artists that many believed were bad despite their relative popularity. “Achy Breaky Heart” still draws the ire of many. “Fancy Like” and the other dubious titles from Walker Hayes very well might suffer the same fate.

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