Country music star Zach Bryan responds to criticism for his upcoming new song Bad news Following claims that it includes texts that appear to be critical of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
Brian, 29, shared a snippet of the song on Instagram on Friday, which caused many people, including White House officials, to call him out for seemingly taking aim at immigration raids.
In the song, Brian sings: “I heard the cops came, sassy mother – – isn't it? ICE Gonna come down your door, try to build a house, no more bills, but I have a phone, the kids are all scared and all alone.”
“The bar stopped hitting, the stone stopped rolling, the middle fingers went up, and it won't stop pointing. Got some bad news. A stretch of red, white and blue,” the song continued.
Brian repeated the text in the title.
In a post to his Instagram Stories on Tuesday, Brian, who served in the US Navy, said he wrote Bad news A few months ago and stated that the song is about how much I love the country and everything in it more than anything else.”
“When you hear the rest of the song, you'll understand all the context that hits both sides of the aisle,” he wrote. “Anyone using this as a weapon now only proves how destructively divided we are. We need to find a way back.
Get daily national news
Get the day's top news, politics, economics and current affairs headlines delivered to your inbox once a day.
“I served in this country, I love this country, and the song itself is all of us coming out of this divided space. I didn't sound like a politician or anything bigger than you – just a 29-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else.”
Brian said that “how much S – wake me up not only confuses me, but also scares me.”
“Left wing or right wing, we are all one bird and American. To be clear, I am not on any of these radical sides. For everyone who is disappointed in me on both sides of what you believe in, just know that I try my best too and we all talk about things that are sometimes misinterpreted,” he wrote.
“Everyone is having a great day and I love every single one of them!!!”
In another Instagram story, Brian said the last few months of his life have been “scrutinized by more people than I ever thought possible.”
“I feel like I tried my best in so many ways and it's so hard to see where my bearings are even greater. Falling off a cliff while trying to grow wings at the same time,” he wrote.
Brian said he was “so proud” to have served “in a country where we can all speak freely and communicate with each other without getting doxxed or suspended online or worse; the violence and heartbreak we have faced over the past few months.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Christy is calling criticized an unreleased song while appearing on The Benny Johnson ShowSaying she hopes the country singer “understands how completely disrespectful this song is to not only law enforcement, but to this country, to every single person who has ever stood and fought for our freedoms.”
“He just compromised the whole thing by releasing a product like this that attacks people who are just trying to make our streets safe. So, Zach, I haven't listened to your music. I'm glad about it today. Today, it makes me very happy that I never gave you a single penny to enrich your lifestyle, if you truly believe what this song means,” Wham added.
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Trisha McLaughlin said that Brian should “stick to pink skies, man,” referencing one of his songs released in 2024.
IN statement to NewsweekWhite House spokesman Abigail Jackson said: “While Zach Bryan wants to open the gates to criminal illegal aliens and condemned heroic ice officers, something about Orange tells me that the majority of Americans disagree with him and support President Trump's great American resurgence. Godspeed, Zach!
National Security Posted ice operations video using Brian's song All night revival in a post on x after he shared a snippet of his song.
The video shows ICE officials entering communities, arresting people and taking them into custody, with the caption: “We're having a revival all night.”
& Copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
