Only fitting. Yesterday, our beautiful country celebrated its 250th anniversary. Of course, there were massive celebrations across all fifty states. In Washington, D.C., a record-setting 850,000 fireworks were set off across the nation’s capital. In New York, Macy’s celebrated its 50th annual celebration with performances from Post Malone, Noah Kahan and more. Here in Nashville, Music City showed up in a big way during our two-day Let Freedom Sing! event, with a massive fireworks and drone display on Broadway after the likes of Tim McGraw, Reba, Brothers Osborne, Emily Ann Roberts, Little Big Town, The All-American Rejects and more performed. View this post on Instagram Even if you weren’t in a major city for a celebration, you were undeniably firing up the grill, cracking a few too many cold ones, blasting off some fireworks and, of course, breaking out the speaker to blare some music. At this point, it almost feels downright un-American not to play Toby Keith’s 2002 classic, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American),” the late legend’s iconic post-9/11 anthem, and that sentiment was shared by just about everyone across the country yesterday. According to Chart Data, X’s (formerly Twitter) leading chart tracking account, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” was the #1 most-streamed song in the U.S. on America’s 250th birthday, which only feels fitting if you ask me. Country music, in general, absolutely dominated Spotify this 4th of July, with Ella Langley’s record-breaking #1 hit, “Choosin’ Texas,” Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried,” Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless The U.S.A.” and Kenny Chesney’s “American Kids” all making appearances on the Top 10. Additionally, country-adjacent tracks like Don McLean’s “American Pie” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” also cracked the Top 1o. Top 10 on US Spotify on 4th of July: #1 Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)#2 Born in the U.S.A.#3 Choosin' Texas#4 Sweet Home Alabama#5 Party In The U.S.A.#6 Chicken Fried#7 American Pie#8 God Bless The U.S.A.#9 Fortunate Son#10 American Kids — chart data (@chartdata) July 5, 2026 Of course, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” has all but become the late legend’s signature song, spending a week at #1 upon its release in 2002 and receiving a 5x platinum certification last December, selling over five million units. As we know, the track was written in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, capturing the tangible anger that was shared around the country at the time. With that being said, however, he was not going to release it initially. He originally wrote the song to perform for troops on his USO tours, after growing frustrated with media coverage in the wake of the terrorist attacks. And when he performed the song for the troops, they went wild. He had never intended to actually record the song. But then-Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones told Toby that he didn’t have a choice, calling it “the most amazing battle song I’ve ever heard in my life.” “It’s your job as an entertainer to lift the morale of the troops. If you want to serve, that is what you can do.” The rest, as they say, is history, and the track has officially become nothing short of an American classic 24 years later. There’s something incredibly poetic for the track to be the #1 most-streamed song on America’s 250th birthday. U.S. Spotify Top 10 (4th of July 2026) “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” – Toby Keith “Born in the U.S.A.” – Bruce Springsteen “Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley “Sweet Home Alabama” – Lynyrd Skynyrd “Party in the U.S.A.” – Miley Cyrus “Chicken Fried” – Zac Brown Band “American Pie” – Don McLean “God Bless The U.S.A.” – Lee Greenwood “Fortunate Son” – Creedence Clearwater Revival “American Kids” – Kenny Chesney “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” The post Toby Keith’s “Courtesy Of The Red, White & Blue” Was The #1 Song On Spotify For America’s 250th Birthday first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Country music star, Cody Johnson, took some time out of his 4th of July to listen to Matthew McConaughey’s “America’s 250th Birthday Message,” and he was so moved by it that he shared it with his millions of followers. I don’t need to tell you that McConaughey is a man that wears many hats. Beloved and acclaimed actor in movies and TV? Check. Best selling author? Yep. Entrepreneur and bongo-playing enthusiast? Both of those check out. Minister of Culture at Texas, and a philosopher who can poetically share his thoughts in ways no one else can? Yes and yes. On the 4th of July, and in celebration of America’s 250th birthday, McConaughey put out a video that he titled “Howdy America 250.” We’ll get to the contents of that message here in a second, but first, you have to see the post that Cody Johnson shared when he directed his followers to go and watch the actor’s monologue: “I was gonna make a video speaking about how I feel about America’s birthday, but I came across this first; I couldn’t have said it any better. Remember that we are the ministry of our future patriots folks! God Bless America!” It seems as though Matthew McConaughey beat Cody Johnson to the July 4th message the country star had in his head. And hey… you can’t blame CoJo for tipping his cap and letting the great Matthew McConaughey cover the whole “voice your thoughts on America, patriotism, and where the country is heading in the next 250 years” thing. The 56-year-old actor started his message by honing in on the idea of America, and how our country was founded on a belief… and should still be chasing the principles that acted as the foundation for the United States: “Two hundred and fifty years young! Howdy, America. To a lot of people, that may seem like a long time to be a country but it’s really not. But I’ll tell you what it’s definitely not too long to be — it’s not too long to be an idea, which is what America is. A land that has never been — yet. And that ‘yet’ that we’re seeking and chasing, that’s the whole thing. It’s a place we’re never going to arrive at. And that’s not failure because we won’t, that’s by design. Think about it, we didn’t start this country on any kind of proof. We started it on a belief that was worth fighting for, a wager that was worth betting on. An act of faith that a self-governing people could be something worth being and becoming.” Almost makes you want to break into a “USA!” chant, does it not? McConaughey continued delivering his monologue (he’s pretty great at those, eh?) by doing a bit of status report, and encouraging the rest of America to do the same: “Here we are 250 years later, and the bet’s still on the table folks. We have not cashed in, and let’s hope we never cash in. We need skeptics. Yes we do. We do not need cynics. One cares enough to question, which we should, and the other one’s already quit. We don’t need you.  So here we are celebrating 250 years of independence. We look around. What have we built? What have we restored? What is still standing? What has fallen by the wayside? What’s gone forever? The best of us, I see 250 years of showing up, at least. Arguing, loving, losing, forgiving. Starting over, believing in who we are, and what we can be. That’s the ‘yet’ we are chasing.” The “yet we are chasing” might be one of the best lines McConaughey’s one-of-one brain has ever thought up. And it’s easy to see why Cody Johnson didn’t want to mess with doing his own message after watching this one. McConaughey absolutely stuck the landing, which patriotically concluded that America is still on our way in the best way possible: “Here we are today lighting the fire, breaking the bread, raising a glass to our family and friends, and maybe even the neighbor we don’t agree with. Today, we’re going to let the kids run barefoot after dark, baby. That’s the celebration. Not that we’ve arrived anywhere, but to the fact we’re still on our way. Take inventory, with the one in the mirror and together. Here’s to more dancing in the home of the brave. Happy 250th, America. Just keep living.” The post “Couldn’t Have Said It Any Better”: Cody Johnson Was Blown Away By Matthew McConaughey’s Epic America 250 Message first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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