John Rich’s Most Controversial Moments

John Rich is celebrating his 52nd birthday on Wednesday (Jan. 7.) The Texas-born singer has been a country music fixture since the early 1990s.

Who is John Rich?

John Rich started his career as a member of Lonestar, but these days, he is best known as one half of country music duo Big & Rich. Together with his musical partner Big Kenny, Rich released hits like the No. 1 “Lost in This Moment” as well as the fan-favorite 2004 single “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy.)”

Rich has also released solo material and appeared on several reality shows, including The Apprentice.

He is also known to be extremely outspoken, and he doesn’t care one iota whether you like what he has to say or not. That’s often made him a polarizing figure in the genre.

To celebrate his birthday, I have put together a list of 5 times that John Rich memorably got people’s feathers all riled up.

5 Times John Rich Caused Controversy + Backlash

In January of 2021, Rich took to Twitter to expose his thought that country artists were being muzzled by the industry when it comes to politics.

Next is from January of 2025, when Rich targeted other country artists for not speaking up about their support for President Trump.

In the clip, he reacts to Carrie Underwood performing at Donald Trump’s inauguration and urges “big time conservative country artists” to publicly speak up — saying they should “grow a pair” if they really support the president.

In 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rich stirred up controversy when he questioned mask mandates and vaccine messaging, leading to strong pushback and accusations of spreading misinformation.

In February of 2025, Rich went after the CMAs and Beyoncé, ruffling some feathers and causing some chaos.

In 2023, Rich got entangled in the Bud Light controversy when some got upset that he pulled Bud Light from his bar, Redneck Rivera in Nashville

What Was The Bud Light Controversy in 2023?

The Bud Light controversy came after Bud Light sent influencer Dylan Mulvaney a personalized can of beer to celebrate her 365-day “gender journey” milestone, which she shared on social media.

Rich posted a now-deleted tweet: “What beer should my bar @rnrbarnash in Nashville replace #BudLight with?” He then followed that with a series of since deleted tweets on the subject.

Read More: Bud Light No Longer the Top Beer in America After Controversy

The day before, Rich polled his followers about whether they still wanted Bud Light — a tweet that also got widespread attention:

“Are you thirsty for a Bud Light now?”

One thing is certain, Rich is a not just a musician, he is a pot-stirrer for sure.