The Worst Country Songs of 2024It’s hard to believe that 2025 is almost over, but we’re only a couple weeks away from the new year so that means everybody is busy putting together their year-end lists of their favorite country music from the past year. But that’s not what we’re here for today. Every year, we like to have some fun and talk about the WORST country songs released in the past 365 days. Obviously country music has gotten a lot better since we first started this list in 2017, so the truly bad songs stick out even more these days. Even the CMA Awards this year were surprisingly good, featuring artists like Stephen Wilson Jr. and the Red Clay Strays instead of the random pop country collabs they’ve loved in years past. But that doesn’t mean it was all good: When it comes to “country” songs, or songs that call themselves country, there were still plenty to choose from. As we’ve done in years past, we put together our own list but also let fans vote on their “winner” too. And a quick look through the replies shows you just how many terrible songs came out this year. View this post on Instagram (A quick note: A lot of people suggested songs like “Darlin'” by Chase Matthew, “Austin” by Dasha or Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” These songs weren’t released in 2025). There was one thing it seemed everybody agreed on though: AI sucks, and that’s why the fan vote “winner” this year goes to Breaking Rust, the mysterious AI-generated artist that made headlines recently for topping the chart with “their” song, “Walk My Walk.” (I normally would link to the song here, but quite honestly I don’t want to give views to an AI artist, so I’m not even going to include it. Go look it up if you want to hear it, though I wouldn’t recommend it). Now, let’s get to our list of the worst “country” songs of 2025: 3. “Cowgirl” – Parmalee I’ll be honest, I liked Parmalee back when they first hit the scene. Their breakout hit “Carolina” from 2013 was pretty good, but then it seems like you kinda stopped hearing about them. That doesn’t mean they stopped making music though: Somehow they manage to keep getting #1 singles with songs like “Just the Way” featuring Blanco Brown, “Girl In Mine,” and their most recent chart-topper, “Cowgirl.” The problem, though, is that somewhere along the way they decided to go from the smooth boyfriend-country sound of “Carolina” to the full-on bro-country sound of “Cowgirl,” and never went back when the rest of the genre finally agreed that bro-country is trash. I mean, we talk a lot of crap about AI, but I think even ChatGPT could write a more original song like this, which is full of worn out clichés that have been overused in country music for a decade. I mean, the two deadest horses of all time are the first horse that ever died, and the boring tropes that Parmalee pulled out for this song: “She wanna take me round the town Hit the dive bars Two steppin’ on my Jordans on the dance floor Shot of tequila, two margaritas And talkin’ with that southern drawl … Yeah that’s the kinda woman Make you call your friends up and say I fell in love with a cowgirl I’m followin’ her curves like a backroad The way she fit it in them Levis Make a man never wanna go home I only came for a minute Now she make me wanna live it Yeah her southern charm ain’t no joke Thank God for the cowgirl I fell in love with a cowgirl” The kids who were born in 2013 are almost teenagers, and it sounds like that’s who wrote this trash. 2. “2 Pair” – Kane Brown Ah yes, our old friend Kane Brown. I’m pretty sure this song was supposed to be in a commercial for Lucchese but they heard it and decided they didn’t want to embarrass their brand like that. The song, an ode to his favorite boots, sounds less like something you’d hear in a Texas honky tonk where people…you know, actually wear Luccheses, and more like he tried to write a country version of Nelly’s “Air Force Ones” without actually changing up the music: “Give me two pairs of LucchesesAll-white shirt and some bootcut jeansI’ll go all night, stomping to the beatI just got a check, blew it all on my feet likeOh, ohAin’t sh– you can tell me, I feel like NellyGive me two pairs of LucchesesAll-white shirt and some bootcut jeans, yeah” Between the stomps and the club beats, it’s hard to even consider this one country, which is disappointing because Kane Brown actually has a voice that would do well if he ever decided to…you know, actually sing country music. Before we get to our worst “country” song of 2025, I feel the need to throw some dishonorable mentions in here, because once I got my list of finalists together it was hard to narrow it down. Akon and Rascal Flatts lead singer Gary LeVox put out an absolute monstrosity with “Hold the Umbrella,” while Bailey Zimmerman teamed up with BigXthaPlug for “All the Way” that made me want to drive my car all the way off a bridge. Then there was Morgan Wallen’s “Miami,” which was a downright horrific interpretation of Keith Whitley’s “Miami, My Amy” that probably should have made the list for that reason alone. So yeah, quite a few songs that could have been on the list. But at the end of the day, the #1 song was a relatively easy choice, and could only be… 1. “Oil Money” – Graham Barham Was there ever any doubt? By far the worst country song I heard all year was “Oil Money,” from TikTok star Graham Barham. The lyrics are nonsensical at best and an undeniably cringeworthy attempt to capitalize on the success of shows like Landman: “She got a body like oil moneyCartier cross around her neck ’cause sheOnly ever seen the kind of club countryHouse in the Gulf where it’s always sunnyLittle tan line honeyShe’s everything you need and she’s got everything she wantsShowing off ’til the lights come onI’m a rich man with my hands on that body like oil moneyShe got a body like oil money” The song went viral, thanks in no small part to viral sensation Sydney Thomas appearing in the music video, but the reaction to the song shows just how bad it really is: “I’ve gotta lie… this song is fire.” “People who never once worked in the oilfield but watched ‘Landman’ think this slaps.” “I miss old country music.” “This is HARD… to listen to.” And honestly, if Barham had just released this song as a bit or as a viral joke, fine. There are a lot of songs that get attention not because they’re good but because the artist releases them as a joke and they catch on. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, because Barham has proven with his follow-up releases that this is, indeed, the kind of music he makes. It’s the kind of song that even bro-country would seek to distance itself from. With its trap beats, calling it country is an insult to the greats of country music, and calling it anything but one of the worst country songs of the year is an insult to anybody who’s had the misfortune of hearing it. If you want to check out our lists of the worst country songs from years past: The Worst Country Songs of 2024 The Worst Country Songs of 2023 The Worst Country Songs of 2022 The Worst Country Songs of 2021 The Worst Country Songs of 2020 View this post on Instagram The post The Worst “Country” Songs Of 2025 first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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