Nigeria: Zach Bryan’s sudden role as a conservative lightning‑rod
By Zuleihat Owuiye, Mamos Nigeria
After a record‑breaking, 112,000‑person show at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on the “Quittin Time” tour Zach Bryan dropped a short clip of his new song “Bad News.”
The snippet, which calls out ICE and paints a bleak picture of immigration raids, set off a firestorm on social media. MAGA fans flooded the comments with calls for boycotts, while a handful of fellow artists—including country veteran John Rich—warned that Bryan was “alienating his core audience”
Bryan, a Navy veteran who built his fame posting raw, acoustic videos on YouTube, has never been overtly political. He’s described himself as “a total libertarian” and has previously defended transgender fans during the Bud Light controversy.
The “Bad News” teaser is his most direct jab at a federal agency yet, and it’s already reshaping how the industry talks about politics in country music.
