Maren Morris isn’t afraid to use her voice — even if it means speaking out against her fellow country music stars.
Morris first stepped on to the country music scene with her self-titled EP in 2015. Since then, she’s been making music and headlines. The “Circles Around This Town” singer has never shied away from calling out some of her colleagues — including Morgan Wallen and Jason Aldean — when their wrongdoings reflected country music as a whole.
Some fans have attempted to run Morris out of the genre but that never stopped her. After her 2016 songs “My Church” and “80s Mercedes” found major success, haters would say, “You don’t belong here,” Morris recalled on The New York Times’ “Popcast” podcast in October 2023. She said that was the “writing on the wall” of what was to come.
After releasing her The Bridge EP in September 2023, Morris made headlines for seemingly announcing her departure from the country music genre — but that’s not the case.
“I don’t want to say goodbye, but I really cannot participate in the really toxic arms of this institution anymore,” she explained. “I’m OK kind of just doing my own thing. Come with me if you please; everyone’s welcome.”
Scroll down to see more of Morris’ most insightful comments about country music’s pitfalls: