The WORST “Country” Songs of 2024

We’ve run down the Song of the Year nominees, the Single of the Year nominees, as well as the Album of the Year nominees for 2024. Now it’s time to give the WORST offerings in “country” music their fair due.
We’ve run down the Song of the Year nominees, the Single of the Year nominees, as well as the Album of the Year nominees for 2024. Now it’s time to give the WORST offerings in “country” music their fair due.
The two Kelce brothers host a podcast together called New Heights, and have the internet all agog after Jason Kelce (the brother NOT having intercourse with Taylor Swift) twisted off on country music during the latest episode.
10 years ago today on May 13th, 2014, Sturgill Simpson released what many people consider his magnum opus, and perhaps one of the most important records in the long history of country music.
There are many signs that country music is transforming for the positive, while the worst of the Bro-Country era is on the wane. Florida Georgia Line’s Lower Broadway haunt permanently closing down is one of them.
Alright. So it goes without saying that this really isn’t a “good” song, and that it’s not especially “country” either, aside from a few tokenary and surface inferences. But regardless, according to Billboard, it’s the #1 song in country.
As strange as it may sound, the term “saving country music” or “save country music” has been said and written more in the last few months than at any other time in history. This begs a deeper discussion about the term.
Brian Kelley, take your damn millions, and enjoy the rest of your life playing the county fair circuit like a man. Because if you think this Bro-Country mess is due for a resurgence in 2024, I’ve got some Sam Hunt stock to sell you.
“Blue Over You” is where that old soul of a young man raised by his grandparents on traditional country comes forth once again, with a bit of an Elvis/Sun Records influence as well.
As you can imagine, the news of the #1 has been met with with praise for Beyoncé breaking down barriers and shattering glass ceilings in country. But this is more about a megastar worth $800 million cutting in line.
The skit does a pretty good job lampooning all the tropes of country music’s Bro-Country era, including the obsession with inane lists of everyday items, hip-hop gesticulations, and predictable and formulaic production.
Along with recalling the great songs and the fond memories, it seems fitting for remember that Charlie Robison was also a fierce titan for independent country music and artists controlling their own destiny.
One of the hottest up-and-coming artists in all of country music is now signed to the roster of one of the hottest labels in all of country music. Announced Wednesday afternoon (3-29), West Virginia native Charles Wesley Godwin has signed to Big Loud Records, which is the home of Morgan Wallen.
Is country music truly experiencing a transformational moment? Is this moment really touching most every sector of country, including some of the most corrupted corners of the mainstream? If this new Chase Rice is any sort of bellwether, then the answer would be in the affirmative.
Over the Christmas/New Year holiday, Morgan Wallen’s “You Proof” set a rather landmark achievement by becoming the first radio single in country music history to spend 10 weeks at #1—a record that despite the song’s country lyricism as a heartbreak drinking song, can only be regarded as dubious.
On December 18th after Zach Bryan had three of his songs featured on Season 5, Episode 7 of the Paramount series Yellowstone, singer and songwriter Rich O’Toole took to social media to say that Zach’s song “Motorcycle Drive By” had borrowed/stolen the guitar/melody part from his song “Take My Heart” released in 2014.
60s and 70’s country music singer Dick Curless with his eye patch and authentic barrel-chested voice has always been a fascinating, yet shadowy character in the history of country music. He is known mostly as one of the overlords of the truck-driving country genre.
As the concert ended, the friends of Cory Barron couldn’t find him. They searched the entire ballpark, hung around to see if he would show up, called friends to confirm he didn’t leave with someone else, with no clue of where he’d disappeared to. By Saturday morning, a missing persons report was filed.
It’s a tradition as tried and true as grandma’s pumpkin pie. Every year on Thanksgiving Day, a football team has to make the worst possible pick for a halftime performer from the dregs of pop country, and embarrass country music on a national stage like your drunk uncle going on a racist tirade in front of your fiance.
There is one thing that can’t be disputed about the song “Wagon Wheel.” It is unequivocally now one of the biggest songs in country music history. Darius Rucker and his label Capitol Records Nashville celebrated the song going Certified Diamond by the RIAA, meaning it has now racked up 10 million in sales.
Hip-hop artist Nelly has been accused by three separate women of rape and sexual assault, including by one woman who accused Nelly of rape while he was on a country music tour with Florida Georgia Line. Diplo has also faced accusations of rape, and grooming underage girls.
On Wednesday, August 31st, 2022, Florida Georgia Line played its final show as a duo at the Minnesota State Fair. “This is our last official concert as Florida Georgia Line… let’s see what we got left in the tank,” Tyler Hubbard said at the start of the performance, goading the crowd. It’s been a long, slow, painful death.
Country music is country music, and the best definition of what country music is, is that you know it when you hear it. It’s self-evident. But the genre has birthed many subgenres, many stylistic movements over the years, and at times has seen a splintering and Balkanization.
The only thing worse than the music of Florida Georgia Line is how their demise has been this slow and plodding drama that’s been unfolding over a couple of years now. Just stick a fork in it already fellas, and maybe resurrect it 20 years from now in Vegas as a nostalgia act.
Diplo played the same role at the 2019 Stagecoach Festival, which was the last time the event was held, and right before a rash of women came out making numerous accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior against the DJ, resulting in restraining orders and criminal investigations.