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John Rich Says Liberals Moving From Other States Are Destroying Nashville: “Like Locusts”
Tell us how you really feel, John.
Outspoken country singer John Rich has never been afraid to speak his mind. One half of Big & Rich (and former member of Lonestar), John has long been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and a prominent conservative voice in country music.
Though he was born in Amarillo, Texas, the country singer graduated high school in the Nashville suburb of Dickson, Tennessee, and moved to Music City after high school to pursue a career in music. So needless to say, he’s seen a lot of changes to Nashville during his time here – and he’s not a fan.
Nashville has been one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States for nearly a decade: At one point, over 100 people were moving to the city every day, and the healthcare and tech industries have been embracing Nashville as a business-friendly large city for their operations, which has only driven the population higher as companies relocate to Music City.
Just in the past few years, Amazon announced plans for a new operations center in Nashville, and tech company Oracle will also be building a new campus that’s expected to bring nearly 8,500 new jobs to the city.
Obviously Nashville’s an attractive location because of a business-friendly regulatory environment and Tennessee having no income tax. Not to mention it’s just a fun city and people want to be here.
But of course with that comes new people moving in from other states – especially more liberal-leaning states like California and New York where tech businesses have been fleeing due to high taxes and burdensome regulations. And it’s safe to say John Rich isn’t a fan.
In a post on X, someone asked Rich why Nashville is so liberal compared to the rest of the state of Tennessee, which is solidly red with the exception of Memphis. And the country singer didn’t hold back:
“Nashville has been overrun for the past 15 years by liberals from other states. They come here because we have no state income tax, the city is fun, the people are nice…then they elect people just like the one’s from whence they came and destroy it. Like locusts.”
Nashville has been overrun for the past 15 years by liberals from other states. They come here because we have no state income tax, the city is fun, the people are nice…then they elect people just like the one's from whence they came and destroy it. Like locusts. https://t.co/DwmD8xdjuJ
— John Rich (@johnrich) May 15, 2025
And Rich also had harsh words for Metro Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell. The Democrat mayor has been outspoken recently on the Trump administration conducting ICE operations in Nashville, saying that the city doesn’t support the crackdown on illegal immigrants:
“I wanna be clear. We did not request this approach to safety, we do not support it. It’s important for us to get this right and it’s very frustrating to see a failure in the process.”
But Rich warned that O’Connell is in the “FA” stage (which if you’re not familiar is the “f— around” part of “f— around and find out”), and that the Department of Homeland Security has the mayor on their radar for interfering with their operations:
DHS has the Mayor of Nashville on their radar in a big way now: https://t.co/m06UgsMrfA
— John Rich (@johnrich) May 14, 2025
Agree with him or not, Rich is always willing to tell you exactly where he stands. In fact, he recently called on more country artists to speak out on their beliefs, praising those on the other side who at least have the courage to stand up for what they believe in even if he disagrees with them:
“Why is it that Garth Brooks has enough conviction about Joe Biden for instance, that he would sing at Joe Biden’s inauguration, that he would give Hillary Clinton a big ol’ bear hug, and stand up there and sing. Why is it that Brad Paisley will come to Nashville with Jill Biden and set up a Covid vaccine site and tell everyone to do their patriotic duty and show up and get your covid vaccine and I’ll play you some music, and the first lady is here and come on down.
I don’t agree with those guys but at least they had enough conviction to step forward and make those moves. Brad was all about the vaccines with Jill, Garth was all about Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, so where are the big time A-listers who are conservative in country music, where are they?
It ain’t outlaw to sit around and keep your mouth shut. You can’t claim to love Johnny Cash and Kristofferson and Willie and Waylon and Tanya and Loretta and on and on, and say that you’re following their footsteps when you keep your mouth shut. God bless you and God bless America, now grow a pair.”
At least you know you’ll never have to worry about that from John.The post John Rich Says Liberals Moving From Other States Are Destroying Nashville: “Like Locusts” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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