He’s not wrong.
At the tail end of 2025 and into the beginning of 2026, country music was hit with arguably one of its biggest (and profoundly dumbest) allegations in quite some time. This, of course, was the “satanic ritual” allegations that were being thrown at Zac Brown Band during their first-ever residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
In case you missed it (or moved on to the next overblown controversy), let me give you a rundown.
During the first weekend of December, Zac Brown Band kicked off their sold-out Love & Fear residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, playing their first set of shows. And while the show itself was quite the spectacle, fully utilizing the Sphere’s status as a technical marvel, it proved to be one of, if not the most controversial, country concerts of 2025.
From the get-go, it’s been clear that the Zac Brown Band’s Sphere shows are among the biggest things the group has ever done. But Brown never backed down from the challenge that comes with performing there, and when the band announced their residency, they called it a “dream come true,” saying the only thing he was worried about was bringing a unique experience to their fanbase:
“Bringing our new album ‘Love & Fear’ to Sphere Las Vegas is a dream come true. It’s my masterpiece so far. This show is the story of my life that I have never shared, a journey through my imagination, music, and stories that have defined who I am.
All of this brought to life in the incredible immersive environment of Sphere. It will be a unique experience where you can really feel every note, every word, right there with us. We can’t wait to share it with the fans.”
And they certainly went all out, performing a plethora of brand-new tracks from their new album of the same name and certified classics such as “Chicken Fried,” “Toes,” “Colder Weather” and “Knee Deep.” Though it certainly wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I thought it was about as good an experience you were going to get from the once-great group at the Sphere.
With all of that being said, the first round of Sphere shows seemed like it would be a major hit among hardcore fans of ZBB, so what’s with all the controversy? Well, it all has to do with the set’s opener and subsequent first track.
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 stellar 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
Given the fact that Brown dared to use some dark and demonic imagery, complete with the aforementioned depiction of Hell and demons on screen, this led to seemingly hundreds upon thousands of people, 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. I really wish I were joking about this, but you can read some of the best (and most absurd) reactions here.
Of course, if you have even an ounce of media literacy within you, you’d be keen to the fact that the song ends with a visual of what appears to be St. Michael the Archangel defeating Satan, thus pulling the audience and the band themselves back out of Hell before immediately transitioning into one of their lighter, country tunes, the 2015 #1 hit, “Homegrown.” God forbid an artist take some risks (if you can even call it a risk) and use some incredibly standard depictions of Hell, am I right? And Zac has used skeletons in their media for a long time… their 2012 Uncaged album has one on the cover, Brandon Maldonado’s 2009 Our Lady of Merciful Fate.
This still didn’t stop people online from delving into what I can only describe as some 1980s-level “Satanic Panic,” complete with paranoid think-pieces on social media and the like. And if you don’t believe me, simply search “Zac Brown Demonic” on TikTok and get a taste for the paranoia yourself.
Things got so bad that the Church of Satan (I wish I were joking again) had to come out and deny the fact that Brown was performing a ritual, and finally, Brown addressed things himself.
During the second weekend of the Sphere residency, the “Free” singer addressed the allegations head-on. Here, he would then directly address the “satanic ritual” rumor. First, making a somewhat vague statement about how there are “forces out there that don’t want this message to get out,” possibly alluding to critics not wanting him to clear his name, he would then call the allegations “horse sh*t.”
“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?”
Finally, Brown would wrap up by thanking the crowd once again for all the love that they showed him at the show, undoubtedly creating a contrast between all the hate he’s procured online over the past week.
Thank y’all for the love that you give us. Thank you so much for giving us our jobs and our life and music. We’re so grateful to be here.”
Nearly a year later, Brown reflected on the controversy during a recent appearance on the Bobby Bones Show.
Here, he’d take aim at all the people online who were profiting off of the controversy — whether it was posting nonsense on social media or clickbait articles — calling the internet an “exploitation of things people are doing.” Brown would also reiterate that the depiction of Hell was a metaphor for the struggles he faced early in his life.
“I saw the stories. People make money off of creating some kind of propaganda, and everyone that clicks on it is paying them money. So that’s what the internet is, it’s an exploitation of things that other people are doing. People make their money by doing that.
I was very clear in the monologue that started the entire show that this is representative of where you start out. You have certain hard, hellish things that you go through in life to come through, and that makes you better — makes you stronger, makes you resilient. It builds your character. I was very vulnerable in that show to share my personal life and the things that happened to me when I was a kid to now. That show was so full of love and hope and resilience.”
Shortly after, he’d once again criticize everyone who created the controversy in the first place. Calling them “parasites,” he’d say that everyone wanted to make money off of the narrative that he was a “Satanist.”
“That’s very common these days. There’s so many parasites online that want to take someone that’s doing something and figure out how they can make money off of creating whatever narrative that they want.”
After adding that he wasn’t too surprised that many critics conveniently left out the fact that he gave the aformentioned monologue that added context to his depictions of Hell, Brown would also express disappointment with religious groups who cast off the performance and unfairly criticized it.
“You can call it chaos or the devil or whatever it is. It’s funny that, in that scenario, religious groups would come in and try to stop everything that I was talking about in that night. [It] was about love and connection and forgiveness. If you have a big theatric stage, you can take someone from dark to light, and that’s what we did. And that’s misconstrued.”
It’s funny that that form, through a radical religious group, might have been used by dark forces to try to stamp out the good that I was doing at the Sphere on a spiritual level. I don’t know that, but I can’t really assume.”
He’d finish by once again reconfirming that he tries to live a life as a Godly person, denying that he stands for nothing that causes “pain and suffering.”
“I try to be a Godly person. I try to take care of people, build amazing places where people can have transformations and grow and heal and do things. I stand for nothing that causes people pain and suffering and all that. I am the exact, absolute opposite of that… It’s completely out of context.”
Just another day on the interwebs…
