Maren Morris Defends Her Place in a Changing Country Music Landscape
Country music artist Maren Morris is defending herself as a woman operating within a traditionally male-dominated industry.
“The decisions I’ve made throughout my career, being a woman in music, particularly in country music, have been very deliberate,” Morris, 35, stated in a video shared via TikTok on Friday, January 9. “I was incredibly fortunate to find success in country music. I released my first song, ‘My Church,’ and it received significant airplay on country radio, though it didn’t reach number one, it was very popular at the time. I also received a Grammy for it.”
She elaborated, “I was experiencing, like, the best period of my life professionally, um, but I was also beginning to observe – my debut album, Hero, featuring “My Church,” was released in June of 2016 and [Donald] Trump won in November of 2016. So my entire, like, success of my first record occurred during the first year of Trump’s presidency. It’s strangely everything felt very political, even though, like, people hadn’t really cared that much before.”
Morris went on to explain that for the “past 10 years” of her career she has been navigating country music under the “Trump presidency, [former president Joe] Biden, then Trump again,” explaining that “it’s been quite interesting to see the country music landscape become increasingly politicized.”
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“And in recent years I have definitely taken steps during Covid, after all of that – I’ve gotten divorced, I’m, like, a single mom now and I’m sort of, like, in my own unique musical space,” she added. “It’s truly disheartening because I love my Texas roots, I love country music, I love Nashville – I live here [and] I haven’t lived anywhere else in the last 15 years – but it’s been quite challenging. Like, people aren’t very welcoming.”
Us Weekly confirmed in October 2023 that Morris filed for divorce from her then-husband Ryan Hurd after five years of marriage. The country music star cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the pair’s split in documents obtained by Us. Prior to their split, the former couple welcomed their son, Hayes, in March 2020.
@marenmorris Replying to @Kevin Smith
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While Morris said on Friday that while “some people are pleasant” in the country music scene, “it’s been very uneasy at these award ceremonies and things,” adding, “I don’t really attend them anymore, but it’s been very tense.”
“But you cannot be a full songwriter and, you know, reflect reality and live through song without addressing political themes,” she continued. “Like, I’m sorry, that’s just the way it is… I try to be kind, I try to be generous, but there are individuals and energies in the sphere of my work over the last few years that have really bothered me. So, I’ve distanced myself in certain areas. But I still love country music.”
Morris then gave a shoutout to her devoted fanbase before admitting that she has “lost a significant number of fans over the years because of my perspectives.” (Morris was involved in a highly-publicized disagreement with Jason Aleadon and Brittany Aldean in 2022 after Brittany made controversial remarks concerning gender affirming care for transgender youth.)
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“I think that’s reasonable,” Morris said of people choosing not to listen to her music because of her personal and political views. “If you disagree with me, you’re not able to enjoy my music because of my viewpoints, you’re absolutely permitted to do that.”
She continued, “But I am only here for a limited time, a couple of them, and so I do feel like I have sacrificed a lot of my mental well-being, my financial stability, my family, simply because I am so deeply concerned and uncomfortable with the peculiar status quo of country music.”
