Country music star Zach Bryan is responding to criticism over his upcoming new song Bad News following claims that it includes lyrics that appear critical of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
Bryan, 29, shared a snippet of the song on Instagram Friday, which caused many people, including White House officials, to call him out for apparently taking aim at immigration raids.
In the song, Bryan sings: “I hear the cops came, cocky motherf—–s, ain’t they? And ICE is gonna come bust down your door, try to build a house, no bills no more, but I got a telephone, kids are all scared and all alone.”
“The bar 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,” the song continued.
Bryan repeated the lyrics in the caption.
In a post on his Instagram Stories on Tuesday, Bryan, who served in the U.S. navy, said he wrote Bad News months ago and claimed the song is about “how much I love the country and everyone in it more than anything.”
“When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle,” he wrote. “Everyone using this now as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided we all are. We need to find our way back.
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“I served this country, I love this country and the song itself is about all of us coming out of this divided space. I wasn’t speaking as a politician or some greater-than-thou a–hole, just a 29-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else.”
Bryan said to see “how much s— stirred up makes me not only embarrassed but kind of scared.”
“Left wing or right wing we’re all one bird and American. To be clear I’m on neither of those radical sides. To all those disappointed in me on either side of whatever you believe in just know I’m trying my best too and we all say things that are misconstrued sometimes,” he wrote.
“Everyone have a great day and I love each and every one of ya!!!”
In another Story posted to Instagram, Bryan said that the last few months of his life, he’s “been scrutinized by more people than I ever thought possible.”
“I feel like I’ve tried my hardest in so many ways and it’s so hard to see where my bearings even are anymore. Been falling off a cliff while trying to grow wings at the same time,” he wrote.
Bryan said he’s “SO proud” to have served “in a country where we can all speak freely and converse amongst each other without getting doxxed or accosted on the internet or worse; the violence and heartbreak we’ve faced in the last few months.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem criticized the unreleased song during an appearance on The Benny Johnson Show, saying she hopes the country singer “understands how completely disrespectful that song is, not just to law enforcement but to this country, to every individual that has ever stood up and fought for our freedoms.”
“He just compromised it all by putting out a product such as that, that attacks individuals who are just trying to make our streets safe. So, Zach, I didn’t listen to your music. I’m happy about that today. Today, that makes me very happy, that I never once gave you a single penny to enrich your lifestyle if you truly believe what that song stands for,” Noem added.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that Bryan should “stick to Pink Skies, dude,” making reference to one of his songs released in 2024.
In a statement to Newsweek, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, “While Zach Bryan wants to Open The Gates to criminal illegal aliens and has Condemned heroic ICE officers, Something in the Orange tells me a majority of Americans disagree with him and support President Trump’s great American Revival. Godspeed, Zach!”
Homeland Security posted a video of ICE operations, using Bryan’s song All Night Revival in a post on X after he shared the snippet of his song.
The video shows ICE officials entering communities, arresting people and taking them into custody, with the caption, “We’re having an All Night Revival.”
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