Country Music Star Zach Bryan Speaks Out After Right-Wing Anger Over Anti-ICE Lyrics

Zach Bryan, one of the biggest stars in country music over the past few years, winning legions of fans with a unique blend of Americana, self-reflection, and heartfelt love songs, while typically straying away from politics, pushed back against rage from the right after he waded into the political moment with a lament of the fading American dream.

A snippet of a song posted on Instagram on Oct. 3 touched on raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) around the country, a part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation program.

“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,” he sings in the yet-unreleased song titled “Bad News.”

Trump has dramatically increased immigration raids across the U.S. in his second term as he aims to meet his goal of carrying out the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S history. This weekend, witnesses described a military-style ICE raid on an apartment building in South Shore, Chicago, in which children were pulled out of their apartments in the middle of the night, zip-tied, and put in vans.

Bryan released the song snippet just days after setting a record for the highest-attended ticketed concert in U.S. history, with 112,408 fans gathering to watch him perform at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

The White House reacted to Bryan’s music in a statement: “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!”

When asked for a response to the song by TIME, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said: “Stick to Pink Skies, dude,” referring to one of Bryan's hits.

Bryan, 29, took to Instagram Stories on Tuesday to react to the controversy surrounding his music.

“I wrote this song months ago,” he wrote in a message that remains on his profile for 24 hours. “I posted this song three months ago as a snippet. This shows you how divisive a narrative can be when shoved down our throats through social media. This song is about how much I love this 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. Everyone using this now as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided we all are. We need to find our way back.”

Bryan, a Navy veteran who was born on a U.S. military base in Japan, added: “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 assh-le, just a 29 year old man who is just as confused as everyone else.”

“To see how much sh-t it stirred up makes me not only embarrassed but kind of scared,” he said.

Read More: Country Music Should Be Political. After All, It Always Has Been

On Tuesday, speaking to conservative commentator Benny Johnson, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said she listened to “a little bit” of Bryan’s music, and was “extremely disappointed and disheartened.”

“I hope Zach Bryan understands how completely disrespectful that song is, not just to law enforcement but to this country, to every single individual that has ever stood up and fought for our freedoms,” Noem said. “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.”

“Zach, I didn't listen to your music,” she added. “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. But I am going to go out and probably download some Jason Aldean songs, John Rich songs, Jon Pardi, Kid Rock… any of those guys.”

And, in an apparent attempt to troll, DHS used Bryan’s 2020 song “Revival” as the background track for a social media video on Tuesday showing ICE and Border Patrol agents conducting mass arrests.

Bryan has made a point in the past of staying away from politics and has brushed off any suggestion that his music is political. But many of his fans have assumed he leans to the right, given that most popular country music has been associated with the American right in recent years, despite outliers like Maren Morris, Tim McGraw, and Kacey Musgraves. Bryan also praised Trump in the immediate aftermath of one of the assassination attempt on him last year and has been pictured with the President.

But Bryan also counts fierce Trump critic Bruce Springsteen as a musical hero, and called him “One of the greatest men to ever exist.” Springsteen has surprised audiences with appearances at several of Bryan’s shows last year and was featured on Bryan’s 2024 album, The Great American Bar Scene.

Read More: Bruce Springsteen’s Long Journey Home

In Bryan’s new song, he appears to have taken inspiration from Springsteen—known for his era-defining protest songs “Born in the U.S.A.” and “My Hometown”—while also paying homage to his hero.

“The Boss stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling / The middle fingers rising and it won’t stop showing / I got some bad news / The fading of the Red, White and Blue,” Bryan sings.

Springsteen has made headlines more recently for his public criticism of President Trump.

“A lot of people bought into his lies,” Springsteen said in a recent interview with TIME. “He doesn’t care about the forgotten anybody but himself and the multibillionaires who stood behind him on Inauguration Day.”

Bryan’s lyrics appear to be dividing his fans already. The song became a trending topic on X as people dissected the new teaser track.

John Rich, a conservative country singer with 1.4 million followers on X, posted: “Who’s ready for the Zach Bryan-Dixie Chicks tour? Prob a huge Bud Light sponsorship for this one,” referring to the American country band, which in 2020 changed its name to the Chicks to avoid association with the Confederacy and famously spoke out against George W. Bush’s administration, as well as the 2023 boycott by conservatives against Bud Light for partnering with a transgender influencer.

“This is how you loose [sic] the majority of your fan base,” said another X user. 

“Guess he forgot the people that support and listen to his music.  Now, he’s just another has-been,” said another.

But Bryan may have won some new fans. Michelle Kinney, leader of the liberal super PAC the Seneca Project, praised the song and called for more artists to show “moral and artistic courage.”

“MORE OF THIS!!!” Kinney posted on X.

In his Instagram stories, Bryan clarified his political leanings. “Left wing or right wing we’re all one bird and American. To be clear I’m on neither of these radical sides,” he wrote. “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. Everyone have a great day and I love each and every one of ya!!!”

Bryan posted another story shortly after. “The last few months of my life l’ve been scrutinized by more people than I ever thought possible. I feel like l’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.”

“I am 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!” he added, before concluding with: “God speed ol sons I’m out!”

—Chad de Guzman contributed reporting.