Country music artist Morgan Wallen was caught on video last week throwing a cell phone across the stage during a show.
The incident occurred during a Pittsburgh stop on his “Still the Problem” tour Friday. A concert attendee recorded Wallen gesturing to the phone before walking away, then walking back and ripping the phone out of the guard’s hand. The country star proceeded to dramatically throw the phone across the stage.
<div style="max-width: 728px; margin: 0 auto;"><iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/FO3CgfkimjZAAsXFy24wZ6irMYc1jR01l?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=ebd78c87-2c62-406e-a515-b3208748957e&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=Morgan%20Wallen%20snatches%20phone%20from%20security%20guard%2C%20chucks%20it%20&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fembedded-videos%2Fbad7dfa4-cb2a-4295-89ea-f46c11228281.jpg&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
A TikTok user posted a <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@jcroo419/video/7648373212270677262">video</a> of the incident, writing in the caption, “I get it … security should be doing security things, but &#8230;” 
The TikTok poster also said the phone was given to the security guard by another fan to record. 
Wallen canceled the second of his two planned stops in Pittsburgh, blaming weather and later referencing what he described as “nonsense” rumors about him.
&#8220;This morning, my team walked on my bus and told me they had been consulting with local officials and that I should cancel my show in Pittsburgh tonight and I said, ‘Why?’&#8221; Wallen <a href="https://www.instagram.com/morganwallen/?hl=en">said</a> in the video posted to his Instagram Stories.
&#8220;They said that there was going to be strong winds in the area, and I said, ‘OK.’ So, that is what I did and that was the information I had in the moment, and I trusted my team,&#8221; Wallen said. &#8220;I understand that wind hasn&#8217;t gotten to Pittsburgh yet. &#8230; The truth of the matter is, I have a large stage that, in those conditions, could become fatal to a lot of folks around it. So, I did the best I could with the information I had in that moment.&#8221;
“I’ve been seeing a lot of nonsense about me that is simply not true, and I just wanted to clear the air,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I think my true fans know that that’s not how I operate in general, but I had to say it. Y&#8217;all take care.&#8221;
His fans were questioning this explanation, speculating that it had to do with the prior night’s incident and not with the weather at all. 
&#8220;Morgan wallen [sic] cancelling his show last night is just hilarious because i walked outside after my shift at 11pm and my car was completely dry,&#8221; one X commenter <a href="https://x.com/coleslawslut/status/2063640778920927384?s=46&amp;t=6H1TpnlkKEHOxmv5jMs48Q">claimed</a>. &#8220;No rain in sight. that man was already on his way back to tennessee [sic].&#8221;
“&#8230;he hates his fans and his job and they eat it up,” the person continued. 
Wallen previously made headlines for flipping a piano during a performance last month.

Morgan Wallen

VIDEO: Morgan Wallen Snatches Phone From Security Guard, Chucks It Across Stage

Country Music

Entertainment

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/weekend-plans">Weekend Plans</a> is Upstream’s exclusive lifestyle feature where we highlight the real off-duty routines of the most exciting people in culture. 
This weekend, 27-year-old country singer and political commentator Alexis Wilkins stops by Daily Wire HQ to talk about splitting time between Nashville and D.C., her strategy for flying above the fray, and why dating FBI Director Kash Patel might be the most normal (and perfectly aligned) chapter of her story.
***
Alexis Wilkins arrives wearing a relaxed button-down and silver jewelry, offset by her dark hair, which she tucks behind her ear. She offers me a warm smile and a big hug. I’ll bet you $1,000 no one would ever peg her as an NRA board member. “Hiiiii!” she trills. I immediately get why those who know her love her. 
I’m not going to be that girl who asks when Kash is finally gonna put a ring on it (yet), or whether the relentless stream of rage-bait headlines and credible death threats freaks her out. Instead, I go with, “How does it feel to be hot enough that people think you&#8217;re a spy?”
Alexis laughs. “I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s ever been framed that way, and I love it.”
She grew up Orthodox Christian, mostly in Arkansas, raised by her Armenian mother who was a financial consultant and her father who was top brass at Gillette. 
Still, some allege she’s a “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kash-patel-girlfriend-alexis-wilkins-conspiracy-israel-mossad-b2945596.html">Mossad honeypot</a>.” Alexis essentially rolls her eyes. “My poor mom&#8217;s digging in our basement for my baptism certificate, like, ‘Wait, but this doesn&#8217;t make any sense.’ I&#8217;m like, ‘Mom, they don&#8217;t do common sense.’” 
“If I wasn’t doing a good job, nobody would attack me,” she adds. “So I will continue to do my work.”
Alexis doesn’t come off as anything close to a flash-in-the-pan opportunist. Hey, New York Times, she built a career of her own long before Kash. 
Alexis wrote her first song when she was seven years old and recorded it in Nashville at the ripe old age of nine. “I started writing when I was really young because I read an article in a Smithsonian magazine about <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/fire-in-the-hole-77895126/">coal fires</a> in Pennsylvania,” she says. (Wait, she was reading Smithsonian at seven?) “It was just one of those ‘bored is not allowed’ things,” Alexis confirms. 
“I asked my mom if we could donate all of our money, and she was like, ‘No, that&#8217;s not how that works.’” Instead, her mother suggested she use her talents to fundraise for the cause. “I went on my American Girl doll tape recorder, and I recorded a song. And I&#8217;m like, I&#8217;m gonna put it on the new iTunes thing that’s out, and we&#8217;re gonna raise money with this song.”
She later took on Christ-focused <a href="https://www.independentwomen.com/people/alexis-wilkins/">Belmont University</a> when an activist professor gave her an F in comparative politics because he didn’t jive with her conservative values. His mistake was messing with a straight-A student who doesn’t take kindly to being silenced.
She also describes leaving the American flag icon on her social media and continuing to work with veterans despite pressure from the music industry to tame her patriotism. Pointing to her parents and a close circle of friends, Alexis says, “My support system is really great. That&#8217;s why I started speaking up.” 
About her music, tracks like “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm8fSgu6Wgc&amp;list=RDvm8fSgu6Wgc&amp;start_radio=1">Grit</a>” and “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7BQayn516w&amp;list=RDA7BQayn516w&amp;start_radio=1">Country Back</a>” are as fire as her favorite <a href="https://www.sigsauer.com/p365-380-rose.html">Sig Sauer P365-Rose</a> and as country as cowboy boots. Luckily, Alexis is still following her gut and staying true to herself.
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTbrrIHEX3s/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
&nbsp;
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
&nbsp;
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTbrrIHEX3s/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Alexis Wilkins (@alexiswilkins)</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
The rare off-duty day
Alexis hits the stage most weekends, but on the occasion that she’s in D.C. with a little downtime, she says she and Kash prefer “no plans” plans. “We just hang out, honestly,” she says. The U.S Intelligence life involves constantly being on-call, but the couple unplugs when they can. “We settle into the house, see people, cook, ask, ‘What do you want to do today?’ Things that we don&#8217;t always have the luxury of doing. It&#8217;s such a blessing.”
Back in Nashville, a free schedule features the same emphasis on living in the moment with the people she cares about most. “I would go to breakfast with my mom, and go antiquing or something … find an estate sale. I just love old things.” 
A curated place to call home
Architectural Digest’s “<a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/video/series/open-door">Open Door</a>” home tour series is missing out on a brilliant gem. Alexis describes the interior of her Nashville home as “old Roy Rogers,” AKA the cowboy decor of any Western fan’s dreams, which her mom helped her DIY.
Part of the vintage curioscape involves a mid-century RCA turn-dial TV they rigged to stream nonstop Westerns, and a gorgeous bannister they built from salvaged wood and rugged rebar. “I collect old books,” she explains of her museum library-like collection of secondhand treasures. “I am literate, contrary to popular reporting.” 
But once she utters, “I have a taxidermy squirrel that has a cowboy hat and a holster,” <a href="https://woodlandcreekfurniture.com/gunslinger-squirrel-whimsical-taxidermy-mount-anr-sqbandit.html?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=20086237438&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAD_a_Z1yVuMnIduE_wQkkqjsbbsUH&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw8uTQBhAdEiwAVvtJyvC0Tx-TOfxA_lYxkrx09I-MdfQWSFKI1E6gBiBN0SHu1b5wbbyyBxoCS0oQAvD_BwE">I’m sold</a>. As for music? “I listen to Gene Autry, like very, very, very old Western country. It&#8217;s a theme in my house.”
Rejuvenating in the midst of chaos
For Alexis, the biggest difference between her public and private life is the way she’s portrayed in the headlines. “People would be surprised that I&#8217;m just not very serious,” she says. “I&#8217;m just kind of a normal person … God forbid.” 
She can often be found reading over policies, researching, and even teaching herself to code, so zoning out with a little beauty routine is her favorite way to unwind: “sitting in front of my red light, on my <a href="https://higherdose.com/products/higherdose-infrared-pemf-on-the-go-mat?variant=42731166498987">PEMF [pulsed electromagnetic field] mat</a> on the grounding setting, watching reality TV.” When we talked, she had just finished part one of the “Summer House” reunion. 
Also a fan of Pilates, light strength training, and a peaceful walk outdoors, she wants to form a regular hobby that doesn’t involve a screen. Still, we’re both low-key looking forward to “Love Is Blind” Season 11 this fall.
Cooking up a family connection
Keeping it simple in the kitchen, Alexis preps basics like chicken cutlets and <a href="https://www.goodles.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoq2xGaj7J-5ctFvNc5uSwlkqO9vZTvqx-eA7V1IyPOWi6ayampi">Goodles</a> mac and cheese for herself. “I am such a boring eater,” she jokes. “I&#8217;m making chicken Caesar wraps all the time.” But when Kash hits the jackpot during hunting season, she says, “We have a lot of wild game to work with. I&#8217;ve been cooking stuffed peppers with elk recently.”
Always down to learn something new, she also enjoys discovering a few tricks of the trade from the Gujarati Indian side of the family. “[Kash’s] mom teaches me how to cook,” she says, noting how the same dish might be seasoned differently depending on a family’s preference. “I&#8217;m in the kitchen with her, I&#8217;m asking her questions, I&#8217;m taking pictures of how much spice she uses. It&#8217;s such a fun privilege to get to learn these things.”
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1104731" style="width: 393px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1104731" class=" wp-image-1104731" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-1500474725-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="383" height="216" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-1500474725-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-1500474725-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-1500474725-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-1500474725.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 383px) 100vw, 383px" />Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images</div>
A casual meet-cute 
Alexis and Kash met at a Truth Social party at country singer John Rich’s house, where Kash tried to hit on her by complimenting her jacket. But first things first, what the heck was that jacket? 
“You&#8217;re the first person to ask me that,” she smiles. “Fun fact. It&#8217;s actually a men’s jacket: the <a href="https://www.filson.com/products/mackinaw-wool-cruiser-jacket-red-black-plaid-1">Filson Mackinaw</a> wool plaid jacket, black and red.” She later bought one for Kash as an inside joke. Alexis proudly maintains “boring,” “straight-laced” professional boundaries, so it took a minute before she accepted an invitation to dinner at E3 Chophouse in Nashville with the then-adviser to Donald Trump. But this serendipitous connection almost didn’t happen.
“I wasn&#8217;t gonna go to that party because I had lost my dog like 10 days before,” she recalls. Deep in grief over her 16-year-old Bichon Frise, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CjKKj29OmDN/">Bizou</a>, Alexis reluctantly took her mom’s advice … sort of. “My mom literally kicked me out. She was like, ‘You have to get out of the house.’ I was like, I&#8217;m just wearing jeans. The joke is I wasn&#8217;t dressed up.”
Kash has <a href="https://youtu.be/QJZz4hI-KZE?t=696">spoken</a> publicly about an imminent proposal, but the dedicated couple remains intentional as they navigate uncharted territory. “We had no idea, obviously, what challenges lay in store for us,” Alexis says. “But everything is an adventure. I&#8217;m so proud of him.”
Advice for the next generation
Alexis offers front-line wisdom for those just beginning to find their voice. “I think that being who you are does turn into a superpower,” she says. Stepping out confident in your values requires some guts, but she confirms, “It&#8217;s the same thing as someone saying you have to go to these parties in high school and do drugs to be cool. We all look at that like, ‘Oh, that&#8217;s peer pressure.’ You don&#8217;t have to be in rooms that you don&#8217;t want to be in.”
This high-value apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. She says her grandpa — a first-generation Armenian who worked in an ice cream factory, sold newspapers, shined shoes at age five, and went on to become an aerospace engineer — often quoted historian Thomas Babington Macaulay: “The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.”
“My mom always said don&#8217;t settle,” she adds.
I tell her to waitlist me for a “Mossad honeypot” tee if she ever launches a line of satirical merch. But before we part ways, I invite her to share what most often occupies her thoughts.
“Am I making a good impact, and am I showing up for my friends and family, and am I being myself in all of this noise?” she says. “Is God proud of me? Is my mom proud of me? Okay, cool.”

Upstream-Wilkins-2

Weekend Plans With Alexis Wilkins

Upstream

weekend plans

It’s been 48 hours since organizers unveiled the lineup for the “Freedom 250” concert on the National Mall, and nearly every featured musical act has dropped out.
Morris Day &amp; The Time say they were never confirmed for the kickoff to The Great American State Fair, while the other acts all posted some version of the same statement.
Martina McBride said she “was assured this was a nonpartisan event,” while Bret Michaels said the event was described to him “as a celebration of our country through music and a chance to honor … hardworking Americans from all walks of life.”
“Unfortunately, what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive,” Michaels added. Rapper Young MC offered a similar excuse, saying he was “never told about any political involvement with the event” and expressed his desire to “perform in D.C. in the near future at an event that is not so politically charged.”
What a load of bullshit.
I don’t expect famous musicians to embody courage and patriotism, but even by celebrity standards, this is an egregious display of both ignorance and cowardice. These artists didn’t pull out because the concert was politicized — they politicized it by pulling out.
The bigger issue is that the event would have been politicized no matter what the artists did. Had McBride and Michaels and the lot stayed on the bill, it would have sent a message to Americans about the importance of separating patriotism from politics. Instead, their actions worsened the problem they pretended to lament. It’s unfortunate, and it’s embarrassing.
Let’s break it down.
<h3>Partisanship Is Neither Bad Nor Un-American</h3>
I want to start here, because this is the subtext of the entire debacle. The artists were happy to sing on the Mall until the media and Democrats started deeming it “Trump’s concert,” at which point they promptly ran for the hills. The real issue, of course, is that they don’t want to be associated with Trump (more on that later). But because they want to seem like they’re above the political fray, they simply say that they want to remain “nonpartisan.”
People love to say this, and it always makes them sound stupid. You can’t touch politics and remain nonpartisan. Bipartisan, sure — it’s possible for people with different party affiliations and ideologies to work together, and good when they do. But nonpartisan? To quote the 21st century’s sleepiest president: Come on, man.
This isn’t even a commentary on our divisive political age, though it’s certainly gotten harder to play at nonpartisanship over the past decade. Partisanship is literally built into the foundation of this country. The Constitution? A document born out of a brutal political struggle. Washington, D.C.? Declared our nation’s capital after a backroom trade between warring factions. Even George Washington’s <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/detail/george-washington-farewell-address-1796" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Farewell Address</a> — where Washington famously cautioned Americans to avoid “the enterprises of faction” — is a partisan document. Alexander Hamilton wrote the speech with an eye towards Thomas Jefferson and James Madison’s nascent Republican Party. Washington wasn’t warning Americans to avoid political parties as a rule; he was telling them they should <a href="https://dn720706.ca.archive.org/0/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.148237/2015.148237.The-Idea-Of-A-Party-System.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">all be Federalists</a>.
So, even if a celebration is associated with a particular party or politician, that doesn’t make it bad. But as luck would have it for our roster of stars, that’s not even a thing they needed to worry about.
<h3>There’s Nothing “Partisan” About The National Mall Concert</h3>
Donald Trump is a divisive and partisan figure. The former is a matter of perception: if Democrats could get over themselves, he would be seen as the opposition rather than the enemy. But the latter is an indisputable fact: Trump is an elected official and the head of the Republican Party. In that role, he is inherently partisan, no two ways about it.
But Trump isn’t just the leader of the Republican Party. He’s the President of the United States. As ultraliberal President Jed Bartlet says in “The West Wing,” “I&#8217;m the President of the United States, not the president of the people who agree with me.”
So it is with Trump. Partisanship is just one part of a presidency. The other, more important part — leading the nation and all that — was perfectly reflected in this concert. Trump is right to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence with, as John Adams <a href="https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17760703jasecond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">once wrote</a>, “pomp and parade, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations.”
Now, Trump will almost certainly make some kind of political speech at the concert. Of course he will. Would it be better if he stuck to patriotic platitudes and avoided potshots at political foes? Of course. But that’s not who he is, and that&#8217;s not what our politics is like these days. But even a presidential display of partisanship is not enough to drown out the broader message of the concert. That’s the entire point of this country – the republic looms larger than, and outlasts, our petty squabbling.
It’s also, to a certain extent, the point of live music. Conservatives take it for granted that their favorite artists hate them, and they go to their concerts anyway. You can sit through a rambling Springsteen monologue about tyranny if it means getting a roaring “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.” Liberals, having enjoyed cultural hegemony for so long, can’t conceive of this. And so these artists — none of whom are really famous enough to pass up a national stage — chose to stay home rather than play nice with the president for an afternoon. That’s unpatriotic and stupid, but it’s also just really, really lame.
<h3>Everyone Needs To Be Cool About Cool Stuff</h3>
Just because partisanship isn’t inherently bad doesn’t mean it’s all inherently good. And one of the worst expressions of partisanship is when people let their political priors blind them to objectively good things. We see this all the time when politics and entertainment intersect.
Before acts started pulling out of the concert, people were talking about the upcoming UFC fight on the White House lawn. Construction began on the Octagon this week, and liberals naturally took to social media to say that this was an affront to democracy.
If I thought that these critics were arguing in good faith, I would say that a bare-knuckle brawl on the White House lawn is the perfect distillation of American democracy. But of course, these critics aren’t arguing in good faith. It’s not about keeping the White House free of spectacle, or else they would have been furious when Joe Biden turned the lawn over to a bunch of half-naked transvestites. It’s about opposing anything that’s even a little bit affiliated with Trump.
Republicans have this problem, too. It was dumb to pretend it wasn’t awesome when Obama played basketball with <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2020/04/04/barack-obama-basketball-white-house-kobe-bryant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kevin Durant</a>. That was awesome! It was an incredible American moment, just like Dubya telling the White House press corps to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HZ3Tjohwqo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“watch this drive</a>.” A UFC fight on the South Lawn, a concert on the National Mall: these are incredible spectacles, and it’s objectively cool that the president is involved. It would be cool if the president was a Democrat; it would be cool if the president was a different Republican.
Some things are too enjoyable to let politics get in the way. It’s why there are conservative Grateful Dead fans and liberals who love “Yellowstone.” It’s why Martina McBride didn’t object when Americans turned her song “Independence Day” — written from the perspective of a woman fleeing domestic violence — into a patriotic anthem in the wake of September 11.
The song’s writer, Gretchen Peters, has complained about the song’s new life, making it known that she donated her royalties from Sean Hannity’s show (which famously used “Independence Day” as its theme song) to <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/independence-day-martina-mcbride-real-meaning-855248/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Planned Parenthood.</a>
Not so McBride, who famously performed the song while flanked by two giant American flags at Farm Aid in 2001, shortly after attacks on the World Trade Center.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5Q3LyECse3g?si=jySv9mDwogmdTuh4" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The singer would subsequently say that she had “mixed feelings about” that performance, because she doesn’t “want to take away from what the song is really about.” But she was very clear about the reason she leaned into a patriotic interpretation of the song when she did.
“We were all so raw … and trying to have solidarity and pulling together as a country,” she said. “When I realized that the words to that chorus, ‘let freedom ring,’ kind of mirror what we were all feeling at the time, I made that decision to do that.”
Some things are bigger than politics. Americans understand this. The president understands this. There was even a time when Martina McBride understood this. It’s a shame that she and her fellow performers lost sight of this truth.  But hey, there’s still time: maybe Trump can get <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hey-country-stars-do-the-right-thing-perform-on-the-national-mall">Morgan Wallen</a> or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/country-musics-hottest-star-keeps-pointing-back-to-god" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ella Langley.</a>

HBO, Starbucks and Chase hosted the first free and open to the public Veterans Day Concert for Valor Tuesday, November 11, 2014 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to honor Americas veterans.

What The America 250 Concert Reveals About Our Broken Political Culture

America 250

bipartisanship

Donald Trump

Founding Fathers

Washington D.C.

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
This week took a sharp turn for President Donald Trump and his administration: not because of a national security matter or the southern border, but because a bunch of performers decided to bail on a celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
After initially agreeing to perform for the president’s Great American State Fair concert on the National Mall, Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Young MC, Morris Day &amp; the Time, and The Commodores decided to drop out claiming they were unaware of the event&#8217;s “political affiliation.”
If you’re wondering who most of these people are, you’re not alone. Unless you spend your weekends shuffling through old 8-track collections at flea markets or garage sales, you’ve probably never heard of them. Which begs the question: Wouldn’t it be an honor for most of these “artists” to dust off their finest Zubaz pants and primp the perm one more time to perform in front of thousands of patriotic Americans? The answer is, of course, yes.
It’s certainly worth wondering how we got here. But I have a bigger question, one that I think is the most important thing we can take from this saga: Where are today’s country music superstars?
You can’t go a single election cycle without seeing the biggest musicians in the world put their unwavering support behind a Democratic candidate. Jay-Z and Beyonce famously campaigned with Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen cut ads for Joe Biden in 2020, and Bon Iver showed up to holler in a field for a Harris-Walz event in 2024.
They never seem to feel ashamed to “speak out” and “resist” on behalf of their fans. So, why do country stars?
Every week we see videos of Morgan Wallen selling out football stadiums, Ella Langley hitting the top of the charts with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/country-musics-hottest-star-keeps-pointing-back-to-god" target="_blank" rel="noopener">songs about God</a>, Riley Green putting out conservative-coded songs like “Different &#8216;Round Here,” and new artists like Dexter and the Moonrocks going viral through conservative Instagram reels. Country music is as hot as it has ever been — not because of pink-haired commie liberals, but because of hard-working, patriotic conservatives.
Go to a country concert these days. The parking lots are chock-full of lifted trucks with Trump-Vance stickers. Inside the venues you’ll often find more MAGA hats than band merch. American flags everywhere, Bible verses tattooed on forearms, and not a Bud Light in sight.
Everything conservatives are mocked for in Hollywood is celebrated at country shows. Americans realize this, and they behave accordingly: When certain country stars were swept up in the Left’s cancel culture crusades, conservatives were there selling out arenas and buying their merchandise. These fans have been there at every turn, as steadfast in their support of their musical icons as they are in support of their country.
It’s time country stars repaid the favor.
So what do you say, Morgan? Give the people what they want and dial up one of your famous walkouts with the greatest president of our lifetime — on the National Mall, celebrating the country that gave you everything. I promise your fans will love it because, unlike the Left, they actually love their country.
***
Brad Bishop is The Daily Wire’s senior vice president of public relations.

Morgan Wallen’s One Night At A Time 2024 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN – Night Two

Hey Country Stars, Do The Right Thing: Perform On The National Mall

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
She’s southern, stylish, and downright sensational. Ella Langley made history Sunday night, sweeping the 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards with a whopping seven pieces of hardware, marking a win in every category in which she was nominated.
The 27-year-old Alabama native is arguably the hottest name in country music right now. Her hit &#8220;Choosin&#8217; Texas,&#8221; which won song and single of the year, holds the record for the most weeks at No. 1 on the all-genre Hot 100 by a female country artist. She broke the record set by Taylor Swift’s &#8220;We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together&#8221; in 2012. The smash hit also crushed every country chart by being the only country song by a woman to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100, Hot Country, and Country Airplay charts all at the same time.
With records like that, it could be hard to be humble, but the one thing keeping Langley level-headed is her faith.
&#8220;All I gotta say is thank you God for putting me in a room with these three people right here,&#8221; Langley said after winning the award for Song of the Year with &#8220;Choosin’ Texas.&#8221; (The three people she was referring to are her co-writers on the song.)
She would return to the stage several times throughout the nearly three-hour award show for performances and more accolades, but when she took home the biggest honor of the night, she once again stopped to thank the man upstairs.
&#8220;Thank you, Jesus, for letting me do this for a living,&#8221; Langley said on stage after winning Female Artist of the Year.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="@ellalangleymusic Accepts the Award for ACM Female Artist of the Year [61st ACM Awards]" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oy0A337RAAE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
In the same speech, she openly talked about her struggles the morning of the award show and how praying helped calm her.
&#8220;Today I was having a strange day,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what it is about awards. I walked right into Lainey [Wilson]&#8217;s room, and I just got emotional, and she hugged me, wrapped me up, and started praying for me.&#8221;
In a world of award shows where faith is rarely mentioned, Langley&#8217;s language stood out. But her relationship with God is something she doesn’t shy away from in her speeches or her music.
In fact, on her sophomore album &#8220;Dandelion,&#8221; released last month, she sings explicitly about her faith. The track &#8220;Speaking Terms&#8221; is not about an on-again, off-again romantic relationship, but instead a relationship with God.
It eloquently depicts someone who doesn’t talk to God as much as she did as a child, opening up with the line, &#8220;I used to kneel beside my bed at night when I was small. It was easy as breathing, believing wasn&#8217;t hard at all. I knew that you were there close as my next prayer.&#8221;
The chorus focuses on reconnecting with God: &#8220;I&#8217;m waiting on a whisper, just something to confirm that you and me are still on speaking terms.&#8221;
Another song on Langley’s new album that has a faith focus is &#8220;Loving Life Again,&#8221; which the chart-topper wrote after spending some time reading her Bible back in Alabama last year.
&#8220;The last year of my life, 2025, is when it really got intense for me a little,&#8221; Langley told a concert crowd back in March of this year. &#8220;So I took a couple weeks off. I cancelled everything that I had … I got to spend two weeks sitting there with my mom and my daddy. I got to read my Bible and be next to my family in a way that I hadn’t gotten to do since I was 18 years old.&#8221;
Shortly after that message to fans at a show, Langley shared an Easter message to her nearly 4 million followers. On top of a video of her singing “Because He Lives” on her Instagram story, she wrote:
&#8220;Even though I’ve been a believer in Christ my whole life, my relationship with Him has changed drastically over the last year,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I started to have ‘faith.’ I started to view the days we have been given as a gift instead of a chore. I am so grateful for a God who leads with love and compassion. Thank you Jesus for giving me a way to spend eternity with you. I hope everyone had a great day. Happy Easter!&#8221;
While her faith was strengthened this last year, the &#8220;Dandelion&#8221; singer grew up in a small Baptist church just south of Montgomery, Alabama, where she sang before she knew how to read.
&#8220;I sang at church a lot. I learned how to read from singing hymnals,&#8221; she told Theo Von on the &#8220;This Past Weekend&#8221; podcast.
Her family recognized back then that Langley had a talent, and the practice she got in the pews every Sunday prepared her voice for a career in music. But her faith is what keeps her grounded as her skill and popularity grow.

Credit: David Becker/Getty Images

Country Music’s Hottest Star Keeps Pointing Back To God

Faith

family

Music

The two gay dads who went viral for mocking their adopted baby crying for “mama” are getting trashed again, only this time it’s for quizzing their other adopted children on which of their dads is “hornier.”
The video of country singer Shane McAnally describing his adopted child as “homophobic” inspired social media users to start digging into old posts on his public social media accounts. Despite the massive amount of backlash, McAnally has not removed the video or gone private, opting instead to defend himself and express shock that so many people are upset.
In the latest video making the rounds, the person filming asks McAnally’s two other children a series of questions about him and his husband, instructing the children to select which father is “the best dancer” and “on their phone the most.” Among a series of innocent questions, one of the items that comes up is: “Who’s hornier?”
Thankfully, the children pause in confusion, with one saying, “What’s that?” as the men <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CAbkKJkHmqh/">burst out laughing</a>.
Still, the clip has viewers reacting angrily to minors being exposed to sexual content.
“If that isn’t a red flag, I don’t know what is!!! WTF?!” one reaction <a href="https://x.com/MediumDebyOuld/status/2046518073994137971">said</a>. “Since when would children that age even know what horny means? And how would they then know which parent is the most horny? I think they need their hard drives investigating pronto!”
“Who talks to children like this? Disgusting,” another commenter <a href="https://x.com/ceemorecutz/status/2046550391207100781">agreed</a>.
Other commenters shared links to recent court cases involving gay parents being prosecuted for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gay-couple-arrested-for-allegedly-sexually-abusing-creating-child-porn-with-adopted-sons">sexually abusing their adopted children</a>, including the case of two Georgia men who recorded themselves molesting brothers they had adopted and the U.K.-based gay couple who <a href="https://www.cps.gov.uk/north-west/news/cps-authorises-charges-against-two-men-following-death-13-month-old-boy-blackpool">raped and murdered</a> the 13-month-old they were in the process of adopting.
McAnally and his husband are still being criticized for mocking their newly adopted baby, calling out for “mama.”
“Hey, hey. Who do you want? Dada or Papa?” McAnally’s baby is asked in the video before he appears to reply “mama” as the men laugh.
“No, Mama. Do you want Dada or Pop?” the baby is asked again. “Who do you want? Dada or Pop?”
The baby again appears to ask for his mother before the man says, “There is no mama. I’m so sorry.” After the baby starts crying, the two men laugh at the reaction as they tell him he has “two choices,” but no mother. The video was captioned “who’s gonna tell him?” with the hashtags “comedy” and “standup,” as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/outrage-as-two-gay-men-mock-homophobic-baby-crying-out-for-his-mother">reported</a>.
The musician complained that the whole thing had been taken “out of context,” saying that he was “appalled” by some of the reactions he&#8217;s gotten.

The ‘Hornier’ Question Gay Dads Ask Their Young Kids

comedian

General

LGBTQ

U.S.

Country singer Shane McAnally responded on Friday to a wave of backlash directed at him over a video he&#8217;d posted to Instagram. In the video, his five-month-old called out for &#8220;mama&#8221; — and he laughed as he informed the baby that he had two dads and no mama.
&#8220;We found it hilarious,&#8221; McAnally <a href="https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/2044911121916997764">said of the video</a>. &#8220;He&#8217;s five months old, he obviously doesn&#8217;t understand English.&#8221;
&#8220;Babies usually say dada first, but people wouldn&#8217;t then say the babies are only wanting their dads? It doesn&#8217;t really make sense,&#8221; he added.
The musician also complained that the whole thing had been taken &#8220;out of context,&#8221; saying that he was &#8220;appalled&#8221; by some of the comments he&#8217;d seen.
McAnally did not explain what &#8220;context&#8221; he believed critics were missing, but a number of them pointed out the fact that it was not the first time McAnally had set the baby up as a social media punchline: a video posted in December of 2025 showed the same baby, all smiles as dad (off-camera) talked about his siblings and pets — and then suddenly appeared concerned at the mention of &#8220;two dads.&#8221; The video, still pinned to McAnally&#8217;s Instagram page, is titled &#8220;6 week old homophobic baby.&#8221;
The country singer has been dabbling in stand-up comedy recently, but the &#8220;homophobic baby&#8221; got more backlash than laughs.
&#8220;He may say — oh it&#8217;s just a joke. But mothers don&#8217;t joke about their children this way. Frankly, no father I know does either. It&#8217;s like making a joke about your kid dying and it shows a tragic absence of familial connection. This baby is a fetish for them. God help this child,&#8221; Kira Davis <a href="https://x.com/Kiradavis/status/2045157915800285306">posted</a>.
&#8220;This is not the first time Tony winning musician Shane McAnally has made a joke out of his son&#8217;s instinctive desire for his mother, rather than two fathers. Children deserve better than this,&#8221; Concerned Women for America added.
The Daily Wire&#8217;s Michael Knowles called it &#8220;the most horrifying video I&#8217;ve ever seen in my life.&#8221;

Gay Dads React To Backlash From Their ‘Homophobic Baby’ Video

Politics

After decades of being the songwriter behind some of country music&#8217;s biggest hits for artists such as Rascal Flatts and Montgomery Gentry, Jeffrey Steele is using his own voice on his new and most personal song to date.
&#8220;A Voice&#8221; is a patriotic plea for Americans to unite and stand up for truth, Steele told The Daily Wire. The single, released January 16, shares the stories of Americans who Steele says don&#8217;t always have a voice, but make up the backbone of the country.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a time in the world when we&#8217;ve been relying on government to take care of us,&#8221; Steele said. “This is a song about people taking care of each other.&#8221;
The lyrics for this song evoke powerful imagery with lines, &#8220;I’m the Soldier, I fought and died for you. Gave up my life to give you the right to live the life you choose,&#8221; and &#8220;I’m a laid off factory worker whose factory’s China bound. We’re the coal miners, firefighters, the Charlie Kirk choir all lightin’ our lighters, finally waking up, we had enough, of the liars setting the world on fire.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“A VOICE” is a battle cry and a hope. A reminder that our voices matter and real strength is speaking truth with courage. I wrote this for anyone who’s ever been afraid to speak up. Use your VOICE. Please repost &amp; download:<a href="https://t.co/6sQ5AZN0Zc">https://t.co/6sQ5AZN0Zc</a> <a href="https://t.co/GINwOzy3wO">pic.twitter.com/GINwOzy3wO</a>
— Jeffrey Steele (@JSteeleMusic) <a href="https://twitter.com/JSteeleMusic/status/2012170965623480553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2026</a></blockquote>
Steele said he was told to keep some of those lyrics out so the song would play on the radio, but the Hall of Fame songwriter said he refused to make concessions for more airtime.
&#8220;The radio stations won&#8217;t play their records if they speak politically or not, and it&#8217;s not really political, it&#8217;s just real. It&#8217;s really what&#8217;s happening in the world. I sing it for my friends who can&#8217;t sing it that are in the business, in hopes that the new artists coming up will write what they see out there in the world.&#8221;
&#8220;I mean, if you look at the 60s, you see the hippie movement, the folk movement, there was a narrative there. Right now, the conservative side doesn&#8217;t have that.&#8221;
Prior to the song&#8217;s official release, Steele had played it at his tour stops for the last several months. He&#8217;s played his hits, including &#8220;Something To Be Proud Of&#8221; recorded by Montgomery Gentry, &#8220;Stick That In Your Country Song&#8221; recorded by Eric Church, and &#8220;My Wish&#8221; sung by Rascal Flatts — Steele says nothing has gotten the crowd on their feet like &#8220;A Voice.&#8221;
&#8220;People are getting up, screaming, and cheering. It&#8217;s bringing out a feeling, and I think it&#8217;s the journey of the song.&#8221;
Steele doesn&#8217;t want fame or notoriety. His studio walls honestly don&#8217;t have room for more accolades, and that&#8217;s saying a lot because it&#8217;s a big house. He just wants &#8220;A Voice&#8221; to be a wake-up call for people to speak up for the truth, so the country can be a better place for all.
&#8220;Everybody right now is being told to pick left and right, and the only two sides we have are up and down. It’s good or bad. It&#8217;s surprising when you stand up, a lot of people will stand up behind you.&#8221;
&#8220;A Voice&#8221; is available on all music platforms. Steele&#8217;s tour dates can be found <a href="https://www.jeffreysteele.com/">here</a>.

Illustration by Daily Wire staff

‘It’s Bringing Out A Feeling’: Legendary Songwriter Gets Behind The Mic To Shift Culture In New Song

'It's Bringing Out A Feeling': Smash Hit Songwriter Uses Own Voice In New Song To Shift Culture

News

Tennessee

Editor’s note: This week, we’re reprinting some of our best stories from the past year. This piece delves into the negative impact that feminism has had on a generation of women.
Country artist Kelsea Ballerini has struck a chord with “I Sit In Parks,” a song about yearning for motherhood after being told that chasing career success would deliver deep and lasting happiness.
“I Sit in Parks” feels less like a song and more like a mirror held up to an entire generation of women who were told they could have it all if they chased achievement first and dealt with the marriage and family stuff later. It gives voice to the quiet grief of realizing the consequences of that choice.
And while Ballerini hasn’t said the song was autobiographical, that’s how many fans are seeing it.
Her lyrics begin with the image that many women know well but rarely speak about:
“I sit in parks, it breaks my heart, ’cause I see / Just how far I am from the things that I want / Dad brought the picnic, Mom brought the sunscreen / Two kids are laughing and crying on red swings.”
These lyrics aren’t about envy of another woman’s designer clothes or corner office. They speak of a deep, vulnerable ache for motherhood and family life.
“We look about the same age / But we don&#8217;t have the same Saturdays,” the song goes on. “Did I miss it?/ By now, is it/ A lucid dream? Is it my fault/ For chasing things a body clock/ Doesn&#8217;t wait for? I did the damn tour/ It&#8217;s what I wanted, what I got/ I spun around and then I stopped/ And wonder if I missed the mark.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Kelsea Ballerini - I Sit In Parks (Official Music Video)" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4Ccgd5MT9s4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Ballerini’s frank admissions have emboldened women to weigh in on social media.
“Wow. The picture painted by Kelsea Ballerini in this song is tragic. How many hearts has feminism broken with its lies?” one person <a href="https://x.com/biblicalbeauty/status/1986955863370715335?s=43">observed</a>.
“This is grim,” another commenter <a href="https://x.com/IndieLauraSDG/status/1987218755211104468">said</a> of the song. “I feel so sad for the girls who got duped into putting off the most important things in life.”
“My gosh, this is one of the saddest things I’ve ever read. I’m 45 with a 15-month-old, so this almost became my reality. An entire generation of women has been sold a bill of goods under false pretenses,” a third commenter <a href="https://x.com/Babelfish80/status/1987157480879604153">replied</a>.
“As a single girl in her thirties, I’ve never related to a song more,” a popular comment on the YouTube music video for the song says. 
“I wasn’t prepared for this. As a single girl at 39 this song hits so deep,” another person wrote.
Predictably, there were plenty who shot back, saying they were perfectly content in their choice not to have kids. But the marvel of Ballerini’s song isn’t just the message, but also that it’s coming from a mainstream artist.
It’s telling that at the same time this single started gaining traction, the radical pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights began circulating an <a href="https://x.com/ReproRights/status/1986939347250143385">old interview</a> with singer Stevie Nicks discussing how her abortion in the 1970s &#8220;allowed her to continue her career at the height of Fleetwood Mac.&#8221;
Nicks described her unexpected pregnancy as a “nightmare scenario” that would have “destroyed” the band. During that interview, she spent no time reflecting on how her life would have unfolded if she hadn’t decided to sacrifice her child on the altar of fame. It’s a much more common outlook that other celebrities have spoken of, while Ballerini’s wistful reflection on what could have been is almost never heard.
“So, I sit in parks, sunglasses dark, and I/ Hit the vape, hallucinate a nursery with Noah&#8217;s Ark/ They lay on a blanket, and God d*** it, he loves her/ I wonder if she wants my freedom, like I wanna be a mother/ But Rolling Stones says I&#8217;m on the right road/ So I refill my Lexapro, thinking…” she sings. 
Interestingly, Ballerini was married young and got divorced within five years because her husband, Morgan Evans, wanted to have children right away while she preferred to freeze her eggs and delay becoming a mom, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kelsea-ballerini-claims-her-marriage-ended-when-morgan-evans-wanted-kids-while-she-pursued-egg-freezing-route">reported</a>.
“That was something that we had talked about early on, and that was something that I was changing on,” the singer said during a 2023 appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. &#8220;Cause he was ready. He was like, ‘I don’t want to be an old dad,’ is what he kept saying. And I was like, ‘I’m not there yet, and I can’t do that to save this and give you something that I’m not ready for.&#8217;”
Ballerini said she “wasn’t ready for kids” and decided to visit a doctor to discuss egg freezing, which she planned to do before turning 30. She didn’t discuss the appointment with Evans until later.
“It was not a good day,” Ballerini said of telling her husband about her plan. “And I think that was when I was like, there’s a fundamental difference here that has happened, that has shifted. And it’s no longer like, I don’t see this person, I miss this person, I’m alone, I’m lonely. It’s like, he wants something out of life … [and] I’m not there.”
The “Half of My Hometown” singer said she filed for divorce not long after that conversation in August 2022. 
There’s a chance Ballerini wrote the song to make money, knowing it would make headlines and she could capitalize on the buzz it would generate. There’s a chance she doesn’t regret her decision to chase a career rather than becoming a mom sooner.
But either way, based on the reactions and comments, there is a group of women who feel duped by the subtle yet relentless messaging to build their careers and identities first and worry about marriage and family later… or never.
In practice, biology never agreed to that timeline. These women were told that motherhood was a detour from fulfillment, not part of it, and that it was equally if not more noble to collect passport stamps. 
They were told motherhood was a cage. That freedom was the goal. Yet in this song, the woman with all the freedom and fame is also the one with a broken heart.

Best Of 2025: The Saddest Song Of The Year Exposes The Lie Of Modern Feminism

Feminism

Country artist Kelsea Ballerini has struck a chord with “I Sit In Parks,” a song about yearning for motherhood after being told that chasing career success would deliver deep and lasting happiness.
“I Sit in Parks” feels less like a song and more like a mirror held up to an entire generation of women who were told they could have it all if they chased achievement first and dealt with the marriage and family stuff later. It gives voice to the quiet grief of realizing the consequences of that choice.
And while Ballerini hasn’t said the song was autobiographical, that’s how many fans are seeing it.
Her lyrics begin with the image that many women know well but rarely speak about:
“I sit in parks, it breaks my heart, ’cause I see / Just how far I am from the things that I want / Dad brought the picnic, Mom brought the sunscreen / Two kids are laughing and crying on red swings.”
These lyrics aren’t about envy of another woman’s designer clothes or corner office. They speak of a deep, vulnerable ache for motherhood and family life.
“We look about the same age / But we don&#8217;t have the same Saturdays,” the song goes on. “Did I miss it?/ By now, is it/ A lucid dream? Is it my fault/ For chasing things a body clock/ Doesn&#8217;t wait for? I did the damn tour/ It&#8217;s what I wanted, what I got/ I spun around and then I stopped/ And wonder if I missed the mark.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Kelsea Ballerini - I Sit In Parks (Official Music Video)" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4Ccgd5MT9s4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Ballerini’s frank admissions have emboldened women to weigh in on social media.
“Wow. The picture painted by Kelsea Ballerini in this song is tragic. How many hearts has feminism broken with its lies?” one person <a href="https://x.com/biblicalbeauty/status/1986955863370715335?s=43">observed</a>.
“This is grim,” another commenter <a href="https://x.com/IndieLauraSDG/status/1987218755211104468">said</a> of the song. “I feel so sad for the girls who got duped into putting off the most important things in life.”
“My gosh, this is one of the saddest things I’ve ever read. I’m 45 with a 15 month old, so this almost became my reality. An entire generation of women has been sold a bill of goods under false pretenses,” a third commenter <a href="https://x.com/Babelfish80/status/1987157480879604153">replied</a>.
“As a single girl in her thirties, I’ve never related to a song more,” a popular comment on the YouTube music video for the song says. 
“I wasn’t prepared for this. As a single girl at 39 this song hits so deep,” another person wrote.
Predictably, there were plenty who shot back, saying they were perfectly content in their choice not to have kids. But the marvel of Ballerini’s song isn’t just the message, but also that it’s coming from a mainstream artist.
It’s telling that at the same time this single started gaining traction, the radical pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights began circulating an <a href="https://x.com/ReproRights/status/1986939347250143385">old interview</a> with singer Stevie Nicks discussing how her abortion in the 1970s &#8220;allowed her to continue her career at the height of Fleetwood Mac.&#8221;
Nicks described her unexpected pregnancy as a “nightmare scenario” that would have “destroyed” the band. During that interview, she spent no time reflecting on how her life would have unfolded if she hadn’t decided to sacrifice her child on the altar of fame. It’s a much more common outlook that other celebrities have spoken of, while Ballerini’s wistful reflection on what could have been is almost never heard.
“So, I sit in parks, sunglasses dark, and I/ Hit the vape, hallucinate a nursery with Noah&#8217;s Ark/ They lay on a blanket, and God d*** it, he loves her/ I wonder if she wants my freedom, like I wanna be a mother/ But Rolling Stones says I&#8217;m on the right road/ So I refill my Lexapro, thinking…” she sings. 
Interestingly, Ballerini was married young and got divorced within five years because her husband, Morgan Evans, wanted to have children right away while she preferred to freeze her eggs and delay becoming a mom, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kelsea-ballerini-claims-her-marriage-ended-when-morgan-evans-wanted-kids-while-she-pursued-egg-freezing-route">reported</a>.
“That was something that we had talked about early on, and that was something that I was changing on,” the singer said during a 2023 appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. &#8220;Cause he was ready. He was like, ‘I don’t want to be an old dad,’ is what he kept saying. And I was like, ‘I’m not there yet, and I can’t do that to save this and give you something that I’m not ready for.&#8217;”
Ballerini said she “wasn’t ready for kids” and decided to visit a doctor to discuss egg freezing, which she planned to do before turning 30. She didn’t discuss the appointment with Evans until later.
“It was not a good day,” Ballerini said of telling her husband about her plan. “And I think that was when I was like, there’s a fundamental difference here that has happened, that has shifted. And it’s no longer like, I don’t see this person, I miss this person, I’m alone, I’m lonely. It’s like, he wants something out of life … [and] I’m not there.”
The “Half of My Hometown” singer said she filed for divorce not long after that conversation in August 2022. 
There’s a chance Ballerini wrote the song to make money, knowing it would make headlines and she could capitalize on the buzz it would generate. There’s a chance she doesn’t regret her decision to chase a career rather than becoming a mom sooner.
But either way, based on the reactions and comments, there is a group of women who feel duped by the subtle yet relentless messaging to build their careers and identities first and worry about marriage and family later… or never.
In practice, biology never agreed to that timeline. These women were told that motherhood was a detour from fulfillment, not part of it, and that it was equally if not more noble to collect passport stamps. 
They were told motherhood was a cage. That freedom was the goal. Yet in this song, the woman with all the freedom and fame is also the one with a broken heart.

Kelsea Ballerini

The Saddest Song of the Year Exposes The Lie Of Modern Feminism

The Saddest Song of the Year Exposes the Lie of Modern Feminism

Celebrities

For the first time in history, the number one country song in the digital sales <a href="https://www.billboard.com/charts/country-digital-song-sales/">category</a> on the Billboard charts is AI-generated.
“Walk My Walk” by Breaking Rust currently holds that honor despite not being attached to any human artist. There’s not much information available about the “musician” beyond an artist’s bio on Linktree that says, “Music for the fighters and the dreamers.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Breaking Rust - Walk My Walk ( Official Lyric Video )" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tx3OirkhX0g?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Breaking Rust has more than 39,000 followers on Instagram. The <a href="https://www.instagram.com/breakinrust/?hl=en">profile</a> includes videos and stills of a man in a cowboy hat standing in the rain.
News of the song topping the Billboard chart got mixed reactions on social media.
“80% of songs are auto-tuned, single-beat, 2-minute tracks. No sympathy there. But for the remaining 20% of artists who can actually sing, challenge, and surprise listeners? This is tragic,” one person <a href="https://x.com/paraclete06/status/1988295441612750968">wrote</a> in response to the news. 
“I have a feeling that Spotify might be PRO AI as they won’t have to pay royalties or any other fees in case the music is AI generated,” another <a href="https://x.com/hrishikesshhhh/status/1988550471074668883">observed</a>. “But it’s bad for listeners. Bad for artists.”
“A lot of people like AI music, and I don&#8217;t think any amount of shaming is gonna change that,” a third <a href="https://x.com/LegionOThought/status/1988299847678783533">argued</a>. “Just ask the vegans.”
The debate over using AI in creative endeavors has been raging for years and is back in the spotlight as it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between AI-generated content and human-generated content.
The media labor union SAG-AFTRA recently spoke out against a 100% AI-generated “actress” being touted by its creators as “the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman.”
The “synthetic performer,” which goes by the name Tilly Norwood, was concocted by the U.K.-based production studio Particle6.
Tilly Norwood’s creator, Eline Van der Velden, argued that the AI-generated character “is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art.”
“I see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool, a new paintbrush,” Van der Velden said, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hollywood-actors-union-slams-ai-synthetic-performer-pitched-as-the-next-scarlett-johansson">reported</a>. “Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories. I’m an actor myself, and nothing — certainly not an AI character — can take away the craft or joy of human performance.”

Cowboy

AI-Generated Hit Reaches No. 1 On Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales Chart

AI-Generated Country Song Reaches No. 1 On Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales Chart 

Artificial Intelligence

Billboard

Music Industry

Daily Wire podcast host Isabel Brown on Tuesday put together a tribute episode to honor slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk on what would have been his 32nd birthday. Brown invited big-name country music artists and smaller indie acts to discuss faith, music, and Kirk’s impact on the world.
Legendary country star John Rich also stopped by “The Isabel Brown Show” to pay tribute to Kirk and discuss what it means to stand up for faith and principles in the entertainment industry.
“As an American, you always have this decision to make at some point, especially in today&#8217;s culture, and that is, ‘Am I willing to say what I really think and stand for what I really stand for, knowing I&#8217;m going to take a horrible bloody nose in my career or possibly worse?’” he told Brown, adding that he “wrestled with that for many years.”
“My American dream was to play country music, be on the radio, play the Grand Ole Opry, write hit songs, all of that,” Rich went on. “And so knowing that the industry was so liberal, if I came out swinging as a Christian conservative patriot, I’m probably going to be short-lived from that point forward … And sure enough, that was the case. I’m not on the radio anymore. I don’t get invited to their big fancy parties. But on the other hand, I can say whatever I want to.”
“I can speak the truth,” the singer said. “And, you know, Charlie represented that. I mean, you see a guy who knew that walking into those situations was going to be uncomfortable at the least and potentially dangerous, which now we know it was actually deadly to walk into those situations. But he represents what it means to be a real Christian.”
“Real Christians don&#8217;t just speak the truth when it&#8217;s comfortable,” Rich added. “Matter of fact, quite the opposite.”
The singer also mentioned Kirk’s legacy, with more young people following his example and getting married and having children. 
“It&#8217;s literally the greatest feeling a person can ever have, as you know and as I know,” Rich said of marriage and parenthood. “And I think that that has been downplayed, ridiculed, demonized, even to go out and get married and have kids. I mean, we&#8217;ve seen it in the media.”
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a> 
He added, “‘No, you don’t need to do that. You need to be a Kardashian. You need to be a pro athlete. You need to be this, be that.’ What about just being a regular, good dad or a regular, good mom? And they’ve never really talked about the benefits you get back to yourself when you become a good dad or a good mom. There’s nothing in the world that compares.”
Rich said the Christian revival that was set in motion following Kirk’s assassination has been inspiring.  “I do think with Charlie’s death, the mask of shallowness has been pulled back off of our culture … It’s giving people a line of sight into the real deep things of life that really matter.”
The country star also offered advice to anyone seeking to live a better life. 
“Put things into motion that will outlive you,” he said. “That way down the road when you&#8217;re no longer here, whether you die at 31 or 110, somebody somewhere gets to hear or see you do or say something that impacts them long after you&#8217;re gone.”
He went on, “It&#8217;s okay to go be successful, but your focus should be significance in your music, in your art, in what you say, in your speech. In shows like this, say things that will outlast you. That would be my advice.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="A Life Worth Singing For: Tribute To Charlie Kirk" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T3OHYX9hR0Q?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Singer Matthew West agreed with all points and also discussed the challenges of being the father of teenagers. He said he’d “been a fan of Charlie’s for a long time” and was always “inspired by his bold stance, but also the way that he exercised his right to free speech in such a respectful way.”
“I have teenage daughters, you know, who need young influencers like Charlie showing them the way and speaking into their lives like Charlie,” West said. He added that in the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination, he felt a “stirring,” which was noticeable when he performed his song “Unashamed” several days later at a stadium in Pennsylvania. 
“I definitely have felt just a stirring taking place and a spiritual awakening, as well as just a cultural awakening of going, ‘What kind of voice am I gonna have in the world? And am I willing to use it even if it comes at a cost?’”
West emphasized the impact Kirk was able to make despite being young. “There’s a verse in the Bible that says, ‘Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers,’” he said, referencing a passage that’s been used in reference to Kirk many times since his death.
The singer said the hatred against Kirk is also very revealing as it’s proof of “the legitimate spiritual warfare that we as Christians do believe is constantly raging on around us at all times.” 
West said his takeaway is to be even bolder in his faith despite the backlash he may experience. “There&#8217;s a line in one of my songs called ‘Unashamed’ and it&#8217;s made me think about Charlie,” he told Brown. “And every time I find myself singing it on stage since Charlie&#8217;s death, I think about him and I think about like, I just, I almost sing it kind of angry. And the line says, ‘I don&#8217;t answer to the crowd/ I answer to a King/ So the louder they shout/ The louder I sing.’” 
West also performed a song he wrote as a tribute to Kirk, which came to him on the night of the assassination. 
“September 10th, after we found out that Charlie had gone home to be with the Lord, I gathered my wife and my two daughters together and we talked about it and we prayed … later that night, I heard a song coming from my daughter’s bedroom and she was just up there, my 19 year old daughter with her guitar and she was singing &#8230; this old hymn  from my childhood.”
He added, “And I went to bed that night and … a Bible verse woke me up early that morning. I don’t want to romanticize it, but literally that’s what happened.”
The singer-songwriter said the idea of God being close, even in the face of a tragedy, inspired the song “Be Close,” which he performed on the tribute episode.
Brown’s tribute episode, “A Life Worth Singing For,” also included insight and reflection from Cole Swindell, Abe Parker, and Anne Wilson.

Isabel Brown and John Rich

John Rich Reflects On Charlie Kirk’s Legacy: ‘Say Things That Will Outlast You’

John Rich Reflects on Charlie Kirk’s Legacy: 'Say Things That Will Outlast You'

Menu