If Zach Bryan was hoping to have a quiet autumn, especially after his ongoing feud with country act Gavin Adcock, he’s out of luck. Bryan has once again found himself in the middle of the culture wars — and this time with an old-fashioned protest song that’s irked MAGA fans and even the federal Department of Homeland Security.
Over the weekend, Bryan released a portion of that new tune, called “Bad News,” on his social media feeds. The minute-long excerpt — written solely by Bryan, a source close to the artist confirms to Rolling Stone — opens with bristly guitar strums before Bryan starts singing in what appears to be the voice of someone detained by ICE: “I heard the cops came, cocky motherfuckers, ain’t they?” goes part of one verse, followed by a more specific commentary: “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.”
In the last part of the snippet, Bryan sings, “The bars stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling, the middle fingers rising/And it won’t stop showing/Got some bad news/The fading of the red, white, and blue.” With that, the song, which had been building to a crescendo, fades, leaving both the listener and the narrator in uneasy limbo.
According to a source at Bryan’s label, a finished version of “Bad News” doesn’t yet have a release date, and until we hear the entire song, it’s hard to say where it will go lyrically (although that portion gives a pretty good idea).
Still, the MAGA wing of Bryan’s fanbase and even a few of his fellow artists are not amused by his critique of police officers and ICE agents. “Zach Bryan has every right to record a song bashing law enforcement, and fans have every right to keep supporting his career, or not,” wrote Big & Rich’s John Rich, adding, sarcastically, “… Who knows, maybe there’s a large ‘anti law enforcement’ wing of the country music fanbase. We’ll soon find out.” Jake Owen, another Nashville singer, posted, “He’s a …” followed by an emoji of a toolbox.
In an email to Rolling Stone, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin wrote, “Stick to Pink Skies,” referring to Bryan’s apolitical song about family members returning for a funeral of a loved one.
In a reflection of the increasing polarization of the country world, “Bad News” has also received its share of good news, clocking in more than 150,000 views on a YouTube account dedicated to Bryan. It has also elicited supportive comments like: “Nothing more American, more country music than telling the Federal government to f–k off”; “Our country needs this right now Zach please release this”; and “So proud of you Zach. Music is the ultimate weapon against fascism.”
Bryan has mostly been down-the-middle when it comes to his political views. In 2023, he and Nineties country vet Travis Tritt got into a back-and-forth over transgender rights. (Tritt vowed to have Bud Light removed from his backstage rider after the company featured a trans influencer in an ad; Bryan wrote, “I just think insulting transgender people is completely wrong because we live in a country where we can all just be who we want to be.”) Later the two met at a festival and “talked for an hour and a half,” Bryan posted at the time. “We disagree on some things and agree on some things and it seems the world did not end.”
Last year, Bryan spoke to Rolling Stone for a cover story with one of his heroes, Bruce Springsteen, and went out of his way to stick to the political middle. “I’m neither one way or the other,” he said, going on to talk about his past military service. “I served my country for eight, nine years. I think America ebbs and flows, and it always has. Always will. I’m tired of everyone arguing. It’s about time people were just thankful to be American. ’Cause personally, I’m so grateful I get to wake up in a country that’s free. It’s really special to be in a country where there’s so many different people and so many different parties and so many people that have an opportunity to come together and be kind to each other and respect each other’s backgrounds.”
That Bryan has evoked a reaction from DHS is noteworthy. He began the year by posing for a photo with President Trump at the Super Bowl, and is now seemingly poking at the agency that Trump has made a key component of his administration. So far, Trump — who regularly inserts himself into pop culture — hasn’t commented on Bryan or “Bad News.”
Until we hear a recorded version of the song in full, it’s difficult to say exactly what message Bryan is trying to get across. But at least one of his fans believes it’s a positive one: “Zach Bryan losing some bigoted country fans,” they wrote, “but gaining millions of other fans.”
