The 10 biggest douchebags in country music

There’s a chasm in country music that widens daily. On one side lie the MAGA Southern traditionalists who performed at Turning Point’s “All-American” Super Bowl halftime rival show; on the other lie artists like Kacey Musgraves, Garth Brooks and Orville Peck who understand that you can love both Pride Month and the banjo. Somewhere in the middle are polarizing, outspoken artists like Charley Crockett, whose recent firing of his Satanic doo-wop openers, Twin Temple days before their shows (ironically just for being Satanists) would might flirt with lists like this. He’s usually got some pretty good takes, though, so he’s spared by a home court advantage.

But this isn’t solely about the douchebags who kept their slot on the official Freedom 250 Concert up until its last-minute formal cancellation. Country music has plenty of douches to choose from, whether it be musicians throwing around slurs, facing accusations of emotional abuse and bribery, or just kind of being a general nuisance.

It’s a genre built on the thematic crutches of booze, women, jacked-up pickups, extreme redneck sports and spring break, so how good could they really be? And with the current surge of country music’s popularity, we’ve never had more options to choose from for the ultimate d-bag. In fact, two of the people on this list were name-dropped in separate courtrooms just last month.

It was hard to narrow it down, but we’ve compiled a top 10 for the biggest douchebags in country music, in no particular order, because we really couldn’t choose the worst between the last five.

10. The artists canceling their tours
There’s a growing and criticized trend in country music: canceled tours. Already this year, a handful of country artists have canceled entire tours, leaving fans disappointed. TikTokker turned Music City resident and singer Tayler Holder and rising Canadian hillbilly Colter Wall both canceled their tours, with limited warning, to focus on their mental health. We’re all for rest and restoration, but we empathize with the fans who coordinated babysitters, time off, transportation and spent their hard-earned money for just a few hours in the same room with their favorite musician. Country legend Kenny Chesney called out the pattern on a recent podcast appearance, saying that trying to avoid canceling at all costs is a part of “show business.” Chesney notoriously played an arena show after his foot was crushed in a hidden stage elevator mid-show, breaking several bones. He hobbled through the remainder of the tour dates, and for that, he didn’t make this list.

9. Bailey Zimmerman
By now, destroying a hotel room is practically a rite of passage for any musician thrusted into the spotlight. Bailey Zimmerman checked that off his bucket list in June of this year when he was hit with a felony charge for damage to property after canceling a concert in Albuquerque on the basis of illness. Instead of performing, Zimmerman seemed to have a grand old time until Sandia Resort and Casino accused him of causing $16,000 in damages to his room. The charges were dropped, and the slate was wiped clean when Zimmerman footed the repair bill in full. He earns points for paying for the losses, but it’s also kind of a classic douche move to make problems go away with a check.

8. Travis Tritt
If this is the first time you’ve ever heard of Travis Tritt, consider yourself lucky. The country star, who had a shocking amount of chart-toppers in the ’90s, relaunched himself into the public eye for all the wrong reasons. First, in 2020, he took it upon himself to block every user on X who was using Black Lives Matter hashtags, believing it would counteract the spread of any anti-Republican sentiments. Then, in 2021, he canceled all shows at venues with vaccination and mask mandates. And finally, in 2023, he spearheaded a Bud Light boycott after a transgender influencer was tapped to be the beer’s spokesperson. He’s kind of just anti-everything, which never bodes well for a genre supposedly built on working-class struggles.

7. Gavin Adcock
We couldn’t name one Gavin Adcock song, but we could recite the entirety of Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning album “Cowboy Carter.” However, Adcock, proclaiming himself the official arbiter of the country genre, took issue with Beyoncé, arguably the most famous Texan of all time, receiving accolades for her adept turn toward country music, saying, “You can tell her we’re coming for her fuckin’ ass. That shit ain’t country music and it ain’t ever been country music and it ain’t gonna be country music.” The singer doubled down after being criticized for his hot (and stupid) take. If he’s the country music maestro he claims to be, he should know better than to mess with Texas. And for the record, Charley Crockett thinks her album is more than country enough.

6. Blake Shelton
Blake Shelton hasn’t done anything morally reprehensible that we know of, but he did write “Boys ‘Round Here.” And Gwen Stefani has also become a shell of her former self ever since she married him, and that’s kind of unforgivable. So, for that, we warmly welcome him to our list.

5. Zach Bryan
If Drake has a counterpart in country music, it’s Zach Bryan, another artist who requires a Bible-length rundown on his douchebaggery. But we’ve got deadlines to meet, so we’ll hit the high (or, rather, low) notes. Bryan attracted mass attention after an explosive breakup with a popular TikTok creator named Briana Chickenfry (again, we don’t have time to get into that name right now) who alleged that he was emotionally and mentally abusive for the duration of their relationship. She claims that he then offered to buy her a house and throw in $12 million if she signed an NDA with the agreement to never publicly discuss their relationship. She never signed, and we became privy to just how much he sucks. On top of it all, he got married a short time later. We’ve all had an ex move on far too quickly, and it almost always carries a weird sense of forced happiness. Oh, and he’s retired from music via notes app paragraph screenshot on Instagram twice (once because he wanted to get his master’s degree in Paris), only to return shortly thereafter.

4. Jimmie Allen
Jimmie Allen is one of the few “American Idol” stars to make it “big,” but there may not be a single less deserving person. In 2023, Allen was accused of sexual harassment and assault. He never responded to the allegations, neither online or in civil court, despite several legal summonses. In June, a judge ordered Allen to pay $600,000 in compensation to the accuser and another $1.2 million in punitive damages, which is the penalty for ignoring all those court orders. We don’t know about you, but we surely don’t have $1.8 million lying around to waste on being a huge douche.

3. Kid Rock
This one is self-explanatory. On the off chance you’ve recently emerged from an underground bunker and are brushing up on country’s biggest douchebags, Kid Rock landed himself here for many things, but most recently for headlining Turning Point USA’s “All-American Super Bowl” halftime shit show. The production was in protest of the actual halftime show performed by Puerto Rican artist (and American citizen, mind you) Bad Bunny. The Benito Bowl, as it came to be known, was watched by 128 million, with a whopping 6 million losers tuning in to watch a man in light-wash jorts lip-sync “Bawitdaba.” And if anyone’s counting, we’d like to note that the mullet-having singer is from a wealthy suburb in Michigan. Poser.

2. Morgan Wallen
Where to begin with this one? Let’s start with a 2016 DUI, when he was still a baby artist. Then there’s his infamous 2020 charge for public intoxication. The singer was arrested after being kicked out of douchebag No. 3 Kid Rock’s Nashville bar, Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse. But those were minor offenses compared to his 2021 scandal, when he was caught screaming racial slurs after another drunken night in Nashville. Wallen had his recording contract suspended and was blacklisted from awards season until 2022, when he made his big return to trophy nights at the Billboard Music Awards. The real kicker? He was avenged by that year’s host and executive producer Sean “Diddy” Combs. Wallen now sells out stadiums, and Combs is in federal prison. Oh, and Wallen was arrested again in 2024 for launching a chair off Eric Church’s Nashville bar, Chief’s. Old habits, like reckless endangerment, die hard.

1. Jason Aldean
The list of Jason Aldean’s controversies is truly too long to put in a single blurb, so we’ll highlight the most recent. Aside from being incapable of making an actually good song, Jason Aldean used his undeserved stature in the music industry to make a statement on American culture, or whatever version of it he claims. He was dropped by his public relations firm in 2022 for transphobic comments he and his wife made. Then in 2023, the music video for his song “Try That in a Small Town” immediately caught controversy for its lyrics that read as a threat to people who protest police brutality. To top it off, the singer filmed the music video at the site of a lynching. Though it’s a popular filming location and has been featured in many other artists’ music videos and films, we’re not feeling especially forgiving. Also, he wore blackface for a Lil’ Wayne Halloween costume in 2015, cheated on his wife, and continues to share pro-gun rhetoric despite being on stage during the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, which is, to date, the deadliest mass shooting in United States history.

In case you’re wondering, Keith Urban is spared the guillotine because he can really shred on a guitar, but if Nicole Kidman is reading this, we think frosted tips in 2026 should be considered a crime against humanity.