2025 was quite the year.
I know I say this every year, but it feels like it was just yesterday that we were celebrating the new year, yet somehow hear we are gearing up to turn the calendar once again.
We’ve spent the last couple weeks putting together our year-end lists, and as we look back on 2025 it’s been a pretty good year for country music. Several artists have had well-deserved breakouts this year, including names like the Red Clay Strays, Kaitlin Butts, Stephen Wilson Jr. and Willow Avalon. We got a ton of great music, even if radio refused to play it, and the future of country music looks brighter than ever.
But of course, there were also plenty of moments that left us scratching – or shaking – our head.
Some of these moments feel like they happened years ago, but let’s take a look back at some of the wildest stories from country music in 2025:
1. Billy Ray Cyrus’ Disastrous Performance At President Trump’s Inaugural Ball Sets Off A Family Feud
This one was tough to watch.
2025 got off to a rough start for Billy Ray Cyrus, who performed at the Liberty Ball following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The “Achy Breaky Heart” singer lip-synced his way through part of his set before being struck by technical difficulties that totally derailed the performance. He attempted to recover, but ended up awkwardly wandering around the stage and delivering a rough acapella performance of his biggest hit before finally being escorted off stage.
Billy Ray issued a statement on the trainwreck, blaming it on an equipment failure:
“I wouldn’t have missed the honor of playing this event whether my microphone, guitar and monitors worked or not. I was there because President Donald J. Trump invited me.
I had a ball at the Liberty Ball last night and I’ve learned through all these years when the producer says ‘you’re on,’ you go entertain the folks even if the equipment goes to hell. I was there for the people and we had a blast. That’s called rock and roll!”
But shortly after the performance, his son Trace Cyrus issued a public call for his dad to get help:
“We are all hanging on to memories of the man we once knew & hoping for the day he returns. You’re not healthy Dad & everyone is noticing it. Just like I showed up for you at mamaw’s funeral when you didn’t expect me to I’m still here right now.
As I write this with tears in my eyes I hope you realize this message only comes from a place of love and also fear that the world may lose you far too soon. I love you Dad.”
Billy Ray responded by…threatening his son with legal action, which resulted in Trace calling his dad “a disgrace” and saying that he “no longer respects” him as a man:
“You’re the lamest man to ever walk planet Earth. Honestly embarrassed to ever have considered you my idol. The best thing to come from your downfall is it made me go into beast mode. I refuse to be a washed up, delusional, evil person when I’m old like you. Christ is King. Get right with God. You need it.”
It seems like things have gotten better for the Cyrus family though: On Easter, Billy Ray debuted his new relationship with actress Elizabeth Hurley, and recently Hurley’s son spoke out about his relationship with the country singer and his children, saying that “everybody gets along beautifully.”
2. “Get Me To God’s Country” – Morgan Wallen’s Abrupt SNL Exit Causes Controversy
In the grand scheme of controversies that Morgan Wallen has found himself in, this one was pretty lame. But everything he does is under a microscope, so when Morgan served as the musical guest on SNL back in March and abruptly walked off the set instead of sticking around to chat after the signoff, naturally everybody began criticizing him and reading way more into it than they should have.
After heading to the airport, Morgan posted a photo of his plane captioned “Get me to God’s country” that immediately became a meme, and ruffled the feathers of SNL cast member Kenan Thompson, among others:
“The ‘God’s country’ of it all is strange because it’s like, what are you trying to say? You trying to say that we are not in God’s country? We’re not all in God’s country? We’re not all under God’s umbrella? That’s not necessarily my favorite.”
Morgan seemingly embraced the controversy, even releasing his own “Get Me To God’s Country” merch. And like I said, in the scheme of Morgan Wallen scandals, this one’s pretty low on the list – but of course it still became a massive story in 2025.
3. Gavin Adcock Arrested In Tennessee – And People Thought It Was A Publicity Stunt
Country music’s newest wild child was in the headlines a lot this year. In fact, this isn’t even Gavin Adcock‘s only appearance on this list (spoiler alert). But when he wasn’t feuding with other country artists, or Nickelback’s sound guy, Gavin found himself behind bars in Wilson County, Tennessee back in May.
Gavin was charged with reckless driving and open container, and the singer quickly capitalized on the arrest, releasing merch with his mugshot on it and dropping a new song called “Morning Bail.”
In fact, many thought the arrest was simply a publicity stunt, but Gavin would later explain that he had taken his 1973 Dodge Challenger out for a joyride after getting it fixed up, and had apparently put his lead foot down a little to heavy on the pedal:
“I bought my dream car.. a 1973 Dodge Challenger. Over the past few months I’ve been putting money into it, getting it running as good as new, and decided I wanted to take it for a joy ride. The car ran great. I got pulled over and arrested for reckless driving going 103 in Wilson County, TN.
I wrote this song a few months back and planned to put it out on the album, but I figured there’s no better time than now.”
The charges were ultimately dismissed, and Gavin revealed that he made around $150,000 from the mugshot t-shirts, more than enough to pay for his lawyer and court fees. So this one ultimately worked out pretty well for him.
4. Miranda Lambert Goes Viral With Cheeky Wardrobe Malfunction
So that’s why he’s choosin’ Texas…
Miranda Lambert is ending the year having written a massive hit alongside Ella Langley with “Choosin’ Texas.” But earlier this year, Miranda made headlines after suffering from a cheeky wardrobe malfunction.
While opening for Morgan Wallen on his I’m The Problem stadium tour in Seattle, Miranda went viral after her jean skirt left little to the imagination. But as you can imagine, people weren’t exactly mad at it:
“Somebody start a Go Fund Me for the camera man so we can tip him for this masterpiece.”
“Camera man….you had 1 job and succeeded!! A++!”
“The smirk on her face shows she knows exactly what they are looking at.”
“This is intentional.”
“Now we know why front row is so expensive.”
Miranda wasn’t too worried about it, and seemed to embrace the attention on her “wagon.”
@mirandalambertI’ve been warning y’all about my backyard swagger since 2014 😘♬ Little Red Wagon (Album) – Miranda Lambert
She also wore the same skirt the next time she returned the stage… Hey, if you’ve got it, flaunt it.
5. The Feud Between Zach Bryan & Brianna Chickenfry Just Won’t Go Away
It’s been over a year since their high-profile (and incredibly messy) breakup, but the feud between Zach Bryan and his ex-girlfriend Brianna Chickenfry just won’t go away…probably because they won’t stop talking about each other.
For the most part, it was Brianna who continued to throw shade at Zach, like when she chimed in on the feud between her ex-boyfriend and his “Memphis; The Blues” collaborator John Moreland. But when Zach released his song “River Washed Hair” and some thought it was about Brianna, Zach decided to jump back down into the mud and quickly shot that speculation down with a swipe at his ex:
That only poured fuel on the fire that would continue to rage over the next couple of weeks. Brianna responded that Zach’s songs aren’t about anyone because he “writes them blackout at 6am,” and even announced that she would be releasing new recordings from their relationship.
Zach then posted some text messages from his ex, seemingly in an attempt to prove that she was the one who demanded $12 million to sign an NDA, she shared messages from his manager to try to prove that he DID offer her $12 million, and they both shared videos set to Tyler Childers’ “Bitin’ List” seemingly directed at each other, with Zach burning a flag of Barstool Sports (his ex-girlfriend’s employer).
It seems that Zach has moved on though, debuting his relationship with new girlfriend Samantha, but Brianna has continued to take shots at her now too, commenting on her resemblance to Brianna and even accusing Zach’s new girl of attempting to look like her by going to her hairdresser and asking for the same hairstyle.
It’s a mess, one that would go away if they would both just stop talking about each other, but it doesn’t seem like either one is interested in letting the feud die down. Gotta stay in the headlines somehow I guess.
6. Zach Bryan Jumps A Fence At Born & Raised Fest To Confront Gavin Adcock
Of course Zach hasn’t really had any trouble staying in the headlines this year – although it often wasn’t for his music.
Along with his beef with Moreland, Zach also found himself in a feud with Gavin Adcock after the up-and-comer took issue with Zach telling a young fan on TikTok to “get off my d—” when she complained about him not signing autographs after a show.
Adcock made clear that he doesn’t believe Zach is a good person, and Zach apparently took issue with the comments and decided to confront Adcock about them.
Gavin was headlining Born & Raised Fest in Zach’s home state of Oklahoma, where Zach was making a surprise appearance to perform his duet “Madeline” with Gabriella Rose during her set. But it seems that Zach had other things on his mind during the show as he repeatedly called out Adcock during the performance. Then as he was leaving the festival, Zach apparently spotted Gavin getting ready to go on stage and decided to confront him – by jumping a fence.
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Gavin received plenty of criticism for hiding behind his security, but he explained that he had no interest in fighting Zach and jeopardizing his own headlining performance. And he also shed some more light on what happened at the festival leading up to the viral confrontation:
“He just paced around the inside of the festival all day, drunk as hell, throwing up in trash cans, going up to other artists treating them like s***, their crew s***, and just asking ‘Where’s Gavin?’ When I got to the festival that morning, they said, ‘Hey, Zach‘s coming today, he’s probably gonna try to start some s*** to get you to not go onstage, so just be aware of that.
And my crew is smart enough to go, ‘Yeah, he’s gonna try to pull some s***, so you don’t get to play this show for 10,000 people 30 minutes away from his house.’ So I had that on my mind all day, and when he pulled up on the other side of the fence, I was just chilling out there.
He started coming after me, so I was like, let’s see how mad I can make this guy.”
As for Zach, he hasn’t directly addressed the altercation but has joked about it a couple times, like his reply during an appearance with Matthew McConaughey on his book tour when the actor rhetorically asked, “What’s the worst that can happen?”
“I don’t know…jump a fence.”
I have a feeling we haven’t heard the last of the feud between these two either.7. Keith Urban & Nicole Kidman Divorce
7. Keith Urban & Nicole Kidman Divorce
In one of the more shocking celebrity splits in recent memory, fans were heartbroken back in September when Nicole Kidman filed for divorce from Keith Urban after 19 years of marriage.
Rumors swirled that Keith had already begun seeing someone else, and it seems that both parties were eager to get their sides of the story out in the media. It was reported that Keith wasn’t a fan of Nicole’s steamy scenes in her 2024 film Babygirl, with a source claiming that “he didn’t even like Nicole promoting the movie.”
Sources also claimed that Kidman wanted to save the relationship while it was Urban who wanted a divorce, but the two haven’t really discussed the split publicly so it’s hard to tell what’s the truth and what’s just rumor.
Regardless, it was one of the most shocking – and for many fans, heartbreaking – stories from country music this year.
8. North Carolina Mass Shooter Sues Kellie Pickler
This was one of the more bizarre stories of the year.
Back in September, a tragic scene unfolded when a former Marine opened fire on a waterfront restaurant in North Carolina, killing 3 and wounding 8 others.
After his arrest, it was revealed that the disabled veteran named Nigel Max Edge had once attended the CMA Awards as the date of Kellie Pickler back in 2012 – back before he changed his name and was then known as Sean William Debevoise.
Things took a bizarre turn earlier this year, before the shooting, when Edge filed a bizarre lawsuit against Pickler alleging that she had tried to poison him as a hate crime because he was a straight man. And he filed yet another document claiming that the names of both Pickler and her late husband, Kyle Jacobs, contained LGBT code, and that Pickler poisoned his service dog at the event.
Ultimately the case was dismissed, with a judge calling Edge’s claims “non-sensical and delusional” and finding that his allegations “fail to plausibly allege a violation of law.”
9. Zach Bryan Takes A Shot At ICE In Unreleased Song “Bad News”
At this point we might as well call this list “the wildest Zach Bryan moments of 2025” because the “Something In The Orange” singer kept finding himself surrounded by controversy.
Back in October, Zach once again came under fire after he teased an unexpectedly political new song called “Bad News,” which criticized the ongoing immigration raids by ICE and bemoaned the “fading of the red white and blue.”
“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
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”
As you can imagine, the song drew strong reactions from both sides of the political aisle. Many on the left praised Bryan for speaking out against ICE (although I’m guessing a lot of them don’t know much about him and won’t be such big fans once they dig into his background…), while many on the right criticized the song as anti-law enforcement and called for boycotts of Zach’s music.
The controversy surrounding the song finally led the country star to take to his Instagram to share an explanation, claiming that the track actually celebrates how much he loves the United States of America, and that when fans hear the rest of the song, they’ll understand:
“I wrote this song months ago. 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.”
But the statement did little to quiet the discussion sparked by the song. Even Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees ICE, blasted Zach in a statement, calling the new song “disrespectful” and mentioning that she would be listening to artists like Jason Aldean instead.
Just one of many controversies involving Zach Bryan in 2025.
10. AI-Generated Artist Breaking Rust Tops A Billboard Country Chart
One of the major debates in country music this year was the role of AI, as we saw AI-generated music take off like a rocket on TikTok and other platforms.
With advances in technology, a lot of these songs are nearly indistinguishable from the real thing, which obviously poses a risk to actual artists, songwriters, and fans who value real art over AI slop. And plenty of artists spoke out against AI-generated songs that attempt to copy their own voices, with Tennessee even passing legislation to prevent the spread of these “deep fakes.” But when it comes to creating original music entirely with AI, there’s not many barriers to entry – which means that we’re only going to see it happen more often.
The concerns over AI-generated music seemed to come to fruition last month when an AI-generated country song called “Walk My Walk,” by an artist called Breaking Rust, topped the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart.
The song is credited to someone named Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor, who is also behind an “artist” called Defbeatsai which posts some…well, pretty raunchy AI-generated songs.
While the Instagram page for Defbeatsai discloses that the songs are AI-generated, the IG for Breaking Rust describes it as only “Outlaw Country” and “Soul Music for Us,” with no mention of that music being created entirely by a machine.
The song set off a fierce campaign from those concerned about the proliferation of AI-generated music and the consequences that it has for actual artists, songwriters, and musicians. Many artists criticized the use of AI, while others dismissed it as something that will never be able to compete with actual artists.
Regardless, it’s sure to be a hot-button topic as the advance of AI and the increasing prevalence of AI-generated music is sure to continue at a rapid pace.
11. Zac Brown Accused Of Satan Worship During Las Vegas Sphere Residency
The year is ending on a high note for the Zac Brown Band, who kicked off their highly-anticipated Love & Fear residency at the Las Vegas Sphere. But unfortunately for Zac, the massive show hasn’t been without controversy.
The opening of the concert featured what appeared to be a descent into Hell, with Brown taking the stage flanked by images of the devil and wearing a crown that resembled devil horns while performing “Heavy Is The Head,” the metal track featuring the late, great Chris Cornell from their 2015 genre-fluid album, Jekyll & Hyde.
@infiniti_salon Opening night, opening song! #spherelasvegas #zacbrownband #vegas ♬ original sound – Courtney
@vegas Night one of @Zac Brown Band at @Sphere ♬ original sound – Las Vegas
The dark imagery led to many, both in attendance and online, to accuse the 3x Grammy winner of not only worshipping the Devil but also performing a “satanic” ritual at the concert.
Things got so bad that the Church of Satan even came out and denied that Brown was performing a ritual, and Brown addressed the controversy himself at a subsequent show:
“I want to say a little something about this show, ’cause there’s a lot of people that pick it up online saying that we’re doing some kind of satanic ritual or something like that. I don’t think we can put any more love and light into a show than what we put into this one right here, ladies and gentlemen.
And I think there are forces out there that don’t want this message to get out. So, if you get a minute, drop somebody a comment or something online that’s trying to say that we’re trying to worship the Devil, which is horse s***. You know what I’m saying?”
What a year it’s been for country music.
Here’s to 2026.
