Not Just About the Music! The Biggest Feuds Between Country Stars Over the Years

Maren Morris Vs. Jason and Brittany Aldean

One feud that continues to stand out is between Maren Morris and Jason Aldean. The drama began in November 2022 when Jason’s wife, Brittany Aldean, made a comment deemed as transphobic in an Instagram video in August.
After she thanked her “parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase,” several musicians, including Maren, took to social media to slam Brittany.
After Cassadee Pope said, “You’d think celebs with beauty brands would see the positives in including LGBTQ+ people in their messaging,” she called out the Xo Britt founder by writing, “But instead here we are, hearing someone compare their ‘tomboy phase’ to someone wanting to transition. Real nice.”
Maren then chimed in to share her thoughts on the matter. “It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie,” the “Bones” singer wrote in response to Cassadee’s tweet.
Brittany’s friend Candace Owens got in on the drama when she wrote via Twitter that “it’s easier to not castrate your children.” She added, “But I guess whatever helps sell bad records.”
“Oh my god, not you. My Grammy is positively sobbing right now,” Maren clapped back. “Also, why do y’all always go to ‘castration’ and ‘pedophiles’ to try and shut an argument down? It’s honestly concerning and worth looking into.”
Jason soon found his way into the feud by calling Brittany his “Barbie” in the comments section of one of her Instagram posts. The “Got What I Got” singer continued to take sides when he mentioned Maren during his concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville in October.
“I thought, man, who could I call? I got some friends in town,” he told the audience as he teased that a special guest would join him on stage. “I could call Luke Bryan. I could call Kane Brown. See if Kenny Chesney’s here and not at the beach.”
After he mentioned Maren’s name, the audience booed loudly as Jason made a confused face to imply he didn’t understand the crowd’s negative reaction. 

Dolly Parton Vs. Porter Wagoner

Although Porter gave the “Jolene” artist one of her biggest breaks on The Porter Wagoner Show in 1967, after she quit in 1979, he sued her for $3 million, citing a breach of contract. 

In her 2020 book, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, she opened up about the experience nearly 40 years later. 

“After I left and started doing well, Porter sued me for $3 million, and that was money that I didn’t have. I had to pay that over a long period of time,” she penned. “He gave me great opportunities, and I did appreciate him. Later on, we got back together and he said he was sorry about all of that. So I forgave him, and I asked him to forgive me. I’m sure I was a pain in the ass to him. I was, because I believed in what I believed in, and I was going to fight for it. There’s truth on either side.”

Eric Church Vs. Garth Brooks

Eric Church and Garth Brooks began feuding in 2018 after Eric lost the Entertainer of the Year honor to the “Dance” singer at the 2017 CMA Awards. Following his loss, the “Springsteen” singer called out Garth for lip-syncing.

“So the winner of the biggest category of the night lip-synced in the biggest moment on the show?” Eric told Rolling Stone in July 2018. “F–k that! And I didn’t like his excuse at all. I felt like he was speaking for the other nominees. I can speak for myself – I’m not lip-syncing. If I can’t sing, I won’t sing, or I’ll sing badly. But at least you’ll get what you get.”

The drama continued in 2019 when Garth won again, which led Eric’s fans to bring signs calling the “Talladega” singer “the real Entertainer of the Year” to his concerts.

“I told ’em I said, ‘Listen, I’m fine with it. [But] you pissed the wrong fans off,’” Eric told the crowd, adding, “I know Garth didn’t do it this way” during a cover of “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way.”

Garth later responded to Eric’s comment during an appearance on NASH FM 93.1 in November 2019. “The crazy thing was that we hugged each other right before. All I’ve heard from him — and he might be hearing different things — [but] I’ve heard from him that it doesn’t bother him. But the line, ‘They pissed the wrong fans off,’ that’s perfect. Because if our name hadn’t been called, then in Knoxville (the concert venue), there would have been signs everywhere,” he said while appearing on the radio show. “It brings you closer to your team. Those guys will keep going, and the year that he wins it will be the sweetest year for him. So I guess I just don’t see what everybody else is seeing.”

Maren Morris / Kelsea Ballerini Vs. Morgan Wallen

After a video began to circulate that showed Morgan Wallen using the N-word in 2021, Maren and Kelsea Ballerini were among the stars to slam the “You Proof” singer for his actions. However, the women had different takes on the scandal.

“The news out of Nashville tonight does not represent country music,” Kelsea tweeted at the time.

Maren responded, “It actually IS representative of our town because this isn’t his first ‘scuffle’ and he just demolished a huge streaming record last month regardless. We all know it wasn’t his first time using that word. We keep them rich and protected at all costs with no recourse.”

The “Chasing After You” singer then added that if the women did the same thing as Morgan, they’d “be dropped, endorsements lost, social pariahs to music row …”

While Morgan apologized and was briefly banned from certain events and awards shows amid the scandal, Kelsea later reflected on the situation in November 2021. “Standing up for anything is me crawling out of my skin, but it’s something that’s important to me,” she told CBS News. “It’s something that I’m trying to learn about, something that I’m in a lot of therapy about and something that I’m trying to do better and better and more eloquently, as I get older.”

Tyler Hubbard Vs. Brian Kelley

After Brian Kelly and his wife, Brittney Kelley, expressed support for Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential election, Tyler Hubbard and his wife, Hayley Hubbard, unfollowed his Florida Georgia Line on Instagram.

“I unfollowed BK for a few days while we were through this political, you know, in the middle of this election and everything going on,” Tyler, who vocally supported Joe Biden in the election, told Storme Warren on his SiriusXM show at the time. “And even called him and told him, I said, ‘Hey buddy, I love you. And I love you a lot more in real life than on your Stories right now. So I’m just going to, so that’s why I’m unfollowing you. Nothing personal. I still love you. You’re still my brother.’ I just didn’t want to see it every time I opened Instagram. And so it wasn’t a big deal.”

While the musicians downplayed the drama at the time, both Brian and Tyler launched solo careers and admitted they didn’t know the future of Florida Georgia Line in May 2022.

Their feud seemingly reached new heights in March 2024 when Brian released his song “Kiss My Boots,” as its lyrics hinted at his former bandmate.

“You’ve been throwin’ dirt on my name ’round this town like it ain’t small / Like your friends ain’t my friends, and I wouldn’t end up hearin’ it all / I fell on the sword, but only the good Lord knows the hell that you put me through / Sober me would never tell, but tonight I’m on the Tennessee Truth,” Brian sang, adding, “I’m crankin’ Hank, drinkin’ Jack, airin’ out the past / Want the world to know that you did me wrong / I don’t know how you act sweet, after how you did me / Here’s a middle finger to you through a song.”

In the music video accompanying the track, Brian was seen cutting an apple with a knife and his “Florida” belt buckle was in the shot. Fans took it as a sign that he was ending things with Tyler, as Brian represented the Florida side of the duo to Tyler’s Georgia.

Zac Brown Vs. Luke Bryan

During a radio interview in 2013, Zac Brown said that his “friend” Luke Bryan’s song “My Kind Of Night” was “the worst song I’ve ever heard” and it made him want to “throw up.”

Jason Aldean later took to social media to take Luke’s side in the feud. “I hear some other artist bashing my boy @lukebryan new song, sayin its the worst song they have ever heard,” he wrote at the time. “To those people runnin’ their mouths, trust me when i tell u that nobody gives a s—t what u think. Its a big ol hit so apparently the fans love it which is what matters. Keep doin ur thing LB!!!”

Chase Rice Vs. Kelsea Ballerini

Kelsea slammed Chase Rice when he performed a concert in Tennessee with no masks or social distancing in June 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Imagine being selfish enough to put thousands of people’s health at risk, not to mention the potential ripple effect, and play a NORMAL country concert right now,” the “Peter Pan” singer tweeted. “@ChaseRiceMusic, We all want (and need) to tour. We just care about our fans and their families enough to wait.”

However, Chase didn’t back down from his decision to perform at the concert. “I took a video of the concert, everybody had a blast, but then once I posted the video, a lot of people seeing that online had a big problem with how the show looked, how the show went down,” he said via Instagram  while responding to the backlash. “I understand there’s a lot of varying opinions, a lot of different opinions on COVID-19, how it works with live music crowds and what all that looks like.”