Paramore’s Hayley Williams has taken direct aim at controversial country star Morgan Wallen, confirming that he is the “racist country singer” referenced in her new solo track Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party.
Speaking to The New York Times podcast Popcast, Williams clarified the lyric, in which she sings: “I’ll be the biggest star / At this racist country singer’s bar.” After initially joking that it could apply to “a couple” of country acts, she made it clear, “I’m always talking about Morgan Wallen. I don’t give a shit. Find me at Whole Foods, bitch. I don’t care.”
The blunt commentary comes as Williams releases Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, an album that layers her signature emotional candour with pointed social critique. For Williams, who grew up in Tennessee after being born in Mississippi, calling out racism in Nashville is nothing new. She’s been vocal about inequality throughout her career and remains unapologetic about confronting the uglier side of Southern music culture.
Morgan Wallen remains one of country music’s most polarising figures. In February 2021, he was caught on video outside his Nashville home drunkenly using the N-word. The footage, first published by TMZ, led to a massive backlash: Wallen’s label suspended his contract, he was banned from major award shows, and more than 400 radio stations across the US dropped his music.
Streaming services also reacted swiftly. Spotify and Apple Music removed him from marquee country playlists, while Cumulus Media, which controls hundreds of American radio stations, issued an immediate directive banning his songs.
Despite the outcry, fans propelled Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album to record-breaking success. His streaming numbers surged by 500%, highlighting what critics describe as country music’s unwillingness to confront its racial blind spots.
When asked if he considered that sales spike a reflection of racism within the fanbase, Wallen admitted in an interview with Michael Strahan that he hadn’t thought about it.
Wallen later pledged $500,000 in donations to Black-led organisations and promised to meet with the Nashville NAACP. Reports suggest, however, that after initial discussions, he stopped taking their calls and resumed touring.
Just when it seemed Wallen’s career had recovered, new scandals reignited the criticism. In 2024, bodycam footage emerged of Wallen’s arrest in Nashville after allegedly throwing a chair from the rooftop of his bar, This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen. He denied the act but apologised for “causing problems,” ultimately accepting a plea deal that included probation, a fine, and time in a DUI education centre.
The bar itself, situated on Nashville’s Broadway, has been controversial since its announcement. The city council initially resisted granting Wallen permission to install a massive sign, a decision reversed only months later. For many, the establishment symbolises country music’s willingness to reward Wallen despite repeated public missteps.
Williams, whose activism often intersects with her music, has no time for what she sees as the industry’s complacency. In interviews with both The New York Times and Stereogum, she mocked the trend of country stars naming bars after themselves and singled out Wallen’s as her “least favourite.”
“I’m never not ready to scream at the top of my lungs about racial issues,” she told the Times. “It’s so intersectional that it overlaps with everything-from climate change to LGBTQIA+ issues.”
While her fiery lyric has sparked headlines, Williams insists her outrage is rooted in genuine frustration with how Nashville continues to give Wallen a platform. “I’m passionate about making people feel like they belong,” she said. “The repercussions of people not feeling like they belong-we see it all the time in the news. Music should be one way we can change that.”
Wallen’s saga has underscored ongoing questions about race in country music. Artists such as Mickey Guyton, the first Black woman nominated for a Grammy in the country solo performance category, have spoken openly about the hostility they face in the industry.
The Black Opry, a collective for Black fans and artists in country, folk, and Americana, has criticised the genre’s “surface level” diversity efforts, warning that representation has not made the spaces safer. For many,
Wallen’s rise after scandal confirms that a large portion of country’s audience is not only unbothered by racism but may actively reward those who brush against it.
For Hayley Williams, there’s no room for subtlety. By directly naming Wallen, she’s brought the conversation back into the spotlight one lyric at a time.
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