Country music star Maren Morris recently released two songs 'The Tree,' and 'Get the Hell Out of Here.' She's now announced she'll be leaving the country music industry.
She revealed she's leaving the genre and has plans to release music on Columbia Records instead of Columbia Nashville. She also opened up about her decision to "take a step back," revealing she's felt "very, very distanced” from industry and its politics.
“I thought I’d like to burn it to the ground and start over. But it’s burning itself down without my help.”
She proceeded to open up about the challenges of advocating for progress in country music and being outspoken about her beliefs, including supporting the LGBTQ+ community, taking a stand for the Black Lives Matter movement, and critiquing people like Jason Aldean’s wife Brittany Kerr Aldean for making transphobic comments.
“I’ve always been an asker of questions and a status quo challenger just by being a woman. So it wasn’t really even a choice. The further you get into the country music business, that’s when you start to see the cracks. And once you see it, you can’t un-see it.”
She explained she tried to advocate for change, but only found it made her unpopular.
“I’m trying to mature here and realize I can just walk away from the parts of this that no longer make me happy.”
“Being one of the few women that had any success on country radio, everything you do is looked at under a microscope. You’re scrutinized more than your male peers, even when you’re doing well. So I’ve had to clear all of that out of my head this year and just write songs. A lot of the drama within the community, I’ve chosen to step outside out of it.”
She also commented on the popularity of songs like Aldean’s controversial 'Try That in a Small Town,' which received backlash for having a pro-violent, conservative message.
“People are streaming these songs out of spite. It’s not out of true joy or love of the music. It’s to own the libs."
Fans speculate her music video for 'The Tree' includes references to the Aldean video, as well as posters that read, “Lunatic Country Music Person,” and a nod to how Tucker Carlson labeled her as such.
She also recently spoke to Billboard in the Pride issue cover story about her commitment as an ally.
"I have heard the term 'Shut up and sing' more times than I can count — that’s always the cutesy little threat that they like to make. So I would say to my peers who are artists and to record-label heads, publishers, songwriters: I don't think any of us got into this art form to be an activist, but that’s ultimately thrust upon you to exist in this space and to feel like you can sleep at night."
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