Maren Morris talks about everything that led to her decision to step away from country music.
In the Wednesday episode The New York Times‘ Pop cast podcast, the singer-songwriter said she just couldn’t “participate in the really toxic hands” of country music in Nashville.
“I love living in Nashville, I have my family. There’s a reason people come there from LA and New York to write with us. It’s because we have great songwriters there. That’s not going to change,” Morris, 33, said.
But, she added, “I couldn’t do this circus anymore — I felt like I had to absorb and explain people’s bad behavior and laugh at it. I just couldn’t do that, especially after 2020. I changed. A lot of things happened to me changed those years.”
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She went on to explain that “quitting country music” sounds like a bit of an exaggeration — but she “definitely can’t participate in a lot of that” and she’s “OK just doing her own thing.”
“Come with me if you want. Everyone’s welcome,” she said, adding that she drew the line at not having her work considered at the country music awards.
During the interview, they also addressed her reaction to Morgan Wallen being caught on video using a racial slur in 2021. At the time, she wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): “It actually IS representative of our city because this is not This is his first ‘fight,’ and regardless, it just broke a major streaming record last month.”
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Maren Morris in New York in September 2023.
Gotham/GC images
At the time, Morris — who recently released a two-track project titled the bridge — she didn’t understand the flame she lit.
“I underestimated the power of the city, as well as every broken thing about it – how it protects itself no matter the cost. That was bullshit – not because I regret what I said,” she explained, adding that she never expected get death threats over her comments. “I was cynical. I think rightfully so.”
Morris revealed her choice to leave the country genre in an interview with Los Angeles Times last month. She opened up to the paper about the challenges of advocating for progress in the country industry and being outspoken about her progressive beliefs — which include supporting the LGBTQ+ community, taking a stand for the Black Lives Matter movement and criticizing people like Jason Aldean’s wife Brittany Kerr Aldean for making transphobic comments.
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“I always asked questions and challenged the status quo just by being a woman. So it wasn’t really a choice,” said the Grammy winner. “The further you get into the country music business, that’s when you start to see the cracks. And once you see it, you can’t undo it.”
Morris went on to explain that he felt “very, very distant” from the rural industry and its politics. “I thought I’d like to burn it to the ground and start over,” she said of the genre. “But he’s worse than himself without my help.”
The pop artist said she tried to advocate for change, but only realized it made her unpopular. “I’m trying to mature here and realize that I can just walk away from the parts of this that don’t make me happy anymore,” Morris said.
The star continued, “Being one of the few women who’s had success on country radio, everything you do is looked at under a microscope. You get scrutinized more than your male counterparts, even when you’re doing well. So this year I had to put all that out of my head and just write songs. A lot of drama within the community, I decided to get out of it.”
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Source: HIS Education