Worst mainstream country artist

[mikerivera]

Yeah, this is a mean poll. But, for as great of a year as country music has had, I think it’s good to point out who is making the stuff not worth listening to. To me, this is a battle between the first two options I listed, who also happen to be my least favorite artists in any genre

[Private Dancer]

Morgan Walden and Gabby

[Groovy]

Sam Hunt

[mikerivera]

Jul 15, 2022 11:51:04 GMT -5 Private Dancer said:

Morgan Walden and Gabby

The difference between Morgan and the rest of these artist is that he actually makes some great music on occasion. But I included him because I knew if I didn’t, that would be all the “other” comments. 

[jasper0102]

Sam Hunt or Walker Hayes. The time to get mad at Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line has passed, I don’t care about Parmalee or Breland, Morgan has Sand In My Boots, and Gabby is there, even despite her “unnamed thing”.

[gikem]

I picked “Other” for Russell Dickerson. The others at least have a few songs (usually deep cuts) that I legitimately enjoy, or I can at least understand the artists’ appeal, but Russell Dickerson has yet to make a good song or show a distinct personality. Sure, he has Home Sweet, but I found that to be only passable. Meanwhile, Yours and Blue Tacoma are bland as all hell, while LYLIUT and especially She Likes It are total dumpster fires.

Also, tell me he doesn’t have just the worst name in country music right now.

[Groovy]

There's so many bad options to pick yet the best artist on here is winning.

[.indulgecountry]

The hands down most mediocre artist in this lineup considering the length and breadth of their catalog and amount of success is hands down Jason Aldean. He churns out the same exact stale album every 2-3 years, *maybe* slaps 1 or 2 decent tracks on it that aren't complete retreads of everything else he's already done, and then everything is a #1 hit and he sells out arenas somehow when his performance skills include never cracking a smile. idgi. Luke Bryan would be a close second, but he's offered slightly more originality than Jason in terms of having a few more singles with unique ideas.

[jdanton2]

Blake Shelton should be an option . not sure if he is the worst but he has had some really bad songs and is annoying.

[Fire]

Ive heard 3 walker hayes songs and fancy like is the best thing ive heard from him thus far which should say it all so him

Honorable (or rlly dishonorable here) mention to jason aldean, genuinely one of my least favorite country artists ever

Morgan wallen at least has genuinely great songs like sand in my boots, 7 summers, and flower shops

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Do we have to pick just one?

[toomuchboy]

Wallen and FGL. I don't like Gabby Barrett's voice, but I have liked her last two singles.

[walt91]

Walker Hayes on a musical level, but Wallen is the most loathsome person here

[M5AGTS]

How tf is Morgan winning? He's a really good artist. Yeah I know he's a dumpster fire of a person, but that shouldn't matter for this. We're talking about the music here.

Also let me point out he's not even the worst person on this list. That's Gabby Barrett. She's racist AND homophobic.

As for my answer, this is an unpopular opinion but The Zac Brown Band. Sorry, I just can't stand these guys. Knee Deep is one of the worst songs I've ever heard, and Chicken Fried is really bad too.

[mikerivera]

Jul 20, 2022 14:49:08 GMT -5 M5AGTS said:

How tf is Morgan winning? He's a really good artist. Yeah I know he's a dumpster fire of a person, but that shouldn't matter for this. We're talking about the music here.

Also let me point out he's not even the worst person on this list. That's Gabby Barrett. She's racist AND homophobic.

As for my answer, this is an unpopular opinion but The Zac Brown Band. Sorry, I just can't stand these guys. Knee Deep is one of the worst songs I've ever heard, and Chicken Fried is really bad too.

ZBB is an incredible band, provided you keep them away from any and all owls. The band that made Highway 20 Ride, Colder Weather, Goodbye in Her Eyes (along with the rest of Uncaged), As She’s Walking Away, Homegrown and Toes deserves some respect

[big2000]

I actually enjoyed some of Walker Hayes’ music, especially off of his 2017 album “boom.”, but now it just feels like he is selling out after Fancy Like blew up, hence why I voted him. As for Wallen, I can only make a case for him as a person, and not his music.

[Music Fan]

From this list, Breland easily. Luke Bryan is coming close, but Buy Dirt redeemed himself.

[johnm1120]

Based on the options, Walker Hayes. Sam Hunt has some good songs ("Take Your Time" got to #2 on my chart), but he's hit or miss for me.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Morgan might be a POS but it's not like Gabby or Jason Aldean are better IRL. And at least Morgan has a few good songs.

[Fire]

Jul 15, 2022 21:11:22 GMT -5 Fire said:

Ive heard 3 walker hayes songs and fancy like is the best thing ive heard from him thus far which should say it all so him

Honorable (or rlly dishonorable here) mention to jason aldean, genuinely one of my least favorite country artists ever

Morgan wallen at least has genuinely great songs like sand in my boots, 7 summers, and flower shops

changing my vote to jason aldean

[Au$tin]

Purely from a music standpoint, it's the band that make me physically cringe whenever I hear them: Florida Georgia Line.

As actual people, though, loud and proud MAGAt Gabby Barrett takes the cake.

[Chelsea Press 2]

Morgan Wallen

Jul 15, 2022 21:01:57 GMT -5 jdanton2 said:

Blake Shelton should be an option . not sure if he is the worst but he has had some really bad songs and is annoying.

His quality has declined considerably and yet people still buy and stream him, and go to his shows.

[SabrinaFan]

A few of Morgan's songs are at least tolerable for me even if he is one of my least favorites, but Jason Aldean is the worst for me. I hate pretty much every song I've heard from him so he gets my vote.

[.indulgecountry]

Mar 19, 2023 20:47:50 GMT -5 SabrinaFan said:

Morgan is obviously the worst one here as a person, but a few of his songs are at least tolerable for me. Music-wise, Jason Aldean is the worst for me. I hate pretty much every song I've heard from him so he gets my vote.

Morgan Wallen said the N word once, apologized for it, and then later donated $300,000 to the Black Music Action Coalition.
Jason Aldean has worn literal blackface for Halloween and has a notably transphobic wife that he got with after he was caught cheating on his first wife -- who was his high school sweetheart & mother of his 2 young (less than 10 y.o.) daughters -- w/ her in a public bar.

[Chelsea Press 2]

Mar 19, 2023 20:47:50 GMT -5 SabrinaFan said:

Jason Aldean

I also think he is the worst for how he didn't face any sort of backlash or anything after he cheated on his wife and got caught publicly while LeAnn Rimes was slutshamed and dragged through the mud when she cheated on her 1st husband. Jason actually became even bigger. It's absolutely disgusting.

Sara Evans and Miranda Lambert's careers were both negatively impacted by their husbands cheating on them. THEIR FUCKING HUSBANDS CHEATED ON THEM and they were affected. This is absolutely not okay.

[jenglisbe]

Mar 19, 2023 20:59:32 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Mar 19, 2023 20:47:50 GMT -5 SabrinaFan said:

Morgan is obviously the worst one here as a person, but a few of his songs are at least tolerable for me. Music-wise, Jason Aldean is the worst for me. I hate pretty much every song I've heard from him so he gets my vote.

Morgan Wallen said the N word once, apologized for it, and then later donated $300,000 to the Black Music Action Coalition.
Jason Aldean has worn literal blackface for Halloween and has a notably transphobic wife that he got with after he was caught cheating on his first wife -- who was his high school sweetheart & mother of his 2 young (less than 10 y.o.) daughters -- w/ her in a public bar.

Wallen also recently performed at the inauguration dinner for anti-LGBTQ Governor Bill Lee. (I'm not saying it makes him worse than Aldean and find of this all to be an odd discussion, just pointing out MW is ignorant in many ways).

I will also note that in his GMA interview, Wallen acknowledged having said the n word multiple times prior before the video. So, he was caught once, but it wasn't the only time he'd said it.

I'll also say that for me donating money doesn't mean much as it can be very performative. When after the n word incident Wallen said on GMA he hadn't even thought about whether country music has a race problem, that told me all I needed to know about how much reflection he actually did after the incident. I can buy that he reflected on saying the n word, but if you can't then even bother to think about the larger issue...

[Private Dancer]

^Exactly what he said!!!!

Guys, let's ask ourselves if he never got caught or received backlash for saying the n word, would he have still donated money??? Right! The answer is no, that was a PR and y'all fell for it.

One thing I do not appreciate is excusing racist remarks or trying to make it seem like Morgan isn't all that bad. As the post above me stated, he has said he said it multiple times before he got caught. Anytime a person, says the n word in a moment of rage, do note that they use it quote regularly. And even if he did, say it once, that doesn't make it better. Secondly, Jason and Morgan are no better than the other. Just because one got backlash for something racist and the other didn't does not make one better than the other. This just shows how shitty they both are.

Also, if you are not black and you are speaking on Morgan saying the n word and you are on the WRONG side. Hush, and keep it to yourself.

This is just a general statement,and not aimed at anyone in particular, so if you feel offended....a hit dog will holler.

[rnb]

florida georgia line

[.indulgecountry]

Mar 26, 2023 13:04:23 GMT -5 Private Dancer said:

^Exactly what he said!!!!

Guys, let's ask ourselves if he never got caught or received backlash for saying the n word, would he have still donated money??? Right! The answer is no, that was a PR and y'all fell for it.

One thing I do not appreciate is excusing racist remarks or trying to make it seem like Morgan isn't all that bad. As the post above me stated, he has said he said it multiple times before he got caught. Anytime a person, says the n word in a moment of rage, do note that they use it quote regularly. And even if he did, say it once, that doesn't make it better. Secondly, Jason and Morgan are no better than the other. Just because one got backlash for something racist and the other didn't does not make one better than the other. This just shows how s**tty they both are.

Also, if you are not black and you are speaking on Morgan saying the n word and you are on the WRONG side. Hush, and keep it to yourself.

This is just a general statement,and not aimed at anyone in particular, so if you feel offended....a hit dog will holler.

I was just responding to one of many comments that paint Morgan Wallen as THE ultimate villain while dismissing someone like Jason Aldean who I would argue is quite literally worse based on multiple things he's done or associated himself with. The person I quoted (SabrinaFan) even edited her post in response. I don't think Wallen is a great person either and never said he was, but there's been quite a few interesting comments here about who is worse from an ethics standpoint. Several people have picked Gabby Barrett as well which is even more confusing to me seeing as she's literally done nothing by comparison to either of them besides just... be Republican.

As for the donated money, sure it was a PR stunt and only because he got caught and received backlash for his actions, but the Black Music Action Coalition got $300,000 richer because of it which is at least something to celebrate. It doesn't matter who the money comes from or why it happened, it still went to a good cause. Jason Aldean never gave any money to black people after he dressed up as one for Halloween and then said the world is just too sensitive these days. 🥴

tl,dr version: Neither are great people, I just think a lot of people are focused on Morgan Wallen because he's the current face of country music and most recently taken heat for problematic behavior, but Jason Aldean done been a trashy human since before Wallen was even in Nashville and not enough people seemed to know that, and he's never faced a single repercussion for anything he's done. Wallen actually got (albeit temporarily) pulled from the airwaves when he made his mistake. It also started out as I assume a poll based on quality of material, but it divulged into a game of ethics so I felt the need to throw some of that stuff out there since it was glossed over.

[JukeboxJacob]

If we interpret this as being about the artists as people, then I understand voting for Wallen. But musically he's probably the best one here! MY vote goes to Walker Hayes - 2 hits, both godawful