genre country
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It’s around 11 a.m. on a Tuesday, a few hours before Riley Green’s Duck Blind will open, and its eponymous proprietor is giving a tour of his Nashville bar and restaurant. The multistory complex in Midtown features a few private areas where the singer-songwriter and his friends can hang, including a small lounge that doubles as a podcast studio and a cozy outdoor porch with recliners where Green intends to hold screenings of some of his favorite movies, like Tin Cup, Secondhand Lions and Bull Durham.
Though he’s only 36, Green laments that the younger generation, raised on TikTok videos and Instagram Reels, doesn’t have “the temperament to sit down and watch Shawshank Redemption. And because they don’t, they’ll never be decent people,” he says. That’s a strong indictment and he’s kidding — but only slightly: “You don’t think that at some point in your life you’re a better person because you watched that movie?”
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The get-off-my-lawn rant is ultimately good-natured; Green admits he’s a bit of an old soul, which he credits to his upbringing in Jacksonville, Ala. (population: 15,000). “The majority of my [youth], all four of my grandparents I saw every day. My great-grandmother was alive until 2020,” he says. “I think that’s where I get a lot of the more traditional values.”
A nostalgia for simpler times is reflected in Green’s back-to-basics country sound and in many of his songs — most notably his 2019 triple-platinum smash, “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.” (Though both had died by the time he wrote it, he gave his two grandfathers songwriting credits “as a sign of respect,” he says.)
But in the past year, Green has also leaned into his playful, romantic side — and it has kicked his career into overdrive. His flirty duet with Ella Langley, “you look like you love me,” which recalls classic country songs from the ’70s and ’80s like Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” and George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today” with its spoken interludes, won musical event of the year at the 2024 Country Music Association Awards and three trophies at May’s Academy of Country Music Awards, including single of the year. Green admits he wasn’t sure the track (on which he’s the featured artist) would do well, but it reached No. 1 on Country Airplay and No. 30 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. “I thought the talking verses were probably too traditional to be a big hit on country radio,” he says, “and I’m so glad I was wrong.”
Riley Green
Eric Ryan Anderson
With fans looking at him in a new light, Green and his camp smartly followed “you look like you love me” (and its sultry video) with “Worst Way,” a sly, sexy song with an even steamier video that plays up Green’s leading-man charisma (and re-creates a love scene from Bull Durham).
Though he played guitar in high school, it wasn’t until Green was in college at his hometown’s Jacksonville State University (where he was also quarterback on the football team) that he got serious about music. He started playing four-hour shifts in local bars and restaurants, filling his sets with covers of songs like Jamey Johnson’s “In Color,” which he still plays every show. (In a full-circle moment, Johnson will open for Green on tour this fall.) But Green didn’t rely on outside material for long. “I never thought of myself as a great singer, [but] I knew how to entertain people,” he says. “When I started writing songs, that was how I saw I could set myself apart from somebody who was more talented as a singer or player.”
While Green writes with many top-tier country songwriters, some of his most acclaimed and diverse songs were penned solo, including “I Wish Grandpas Never Died,” “Worst Way,” “Don’t Mind If I Do” (another Langley duet) and “Jesus Saves,” about a homeless veteran. “From a songwriter standpoint, Riley has really embraced his versatility,” says Jimmy Harnen, president/CEO of Green’s label, Nashville Harbor/Big Machine Label Group. “He’s at the point in his career where he’s not afraid to express what he’s feeling and seeing around him.”
BMLG founder and CEO Scott Borchetta recalls a conversation he had with Green two years ago that helped focus the artist for the future. “He said, ‘I’m writing so much and I need to get it out.’ So we set it up to where he could go into our studio anytime he wanted to just start letting all of this music out, and then that led to trying some different production styles. We really focused on his vocals more than ever and had him try a couple different things. And through this, I think he discovered a new voice and discovered his own attractiveness and sexuality, and that wasn’t there when we signed him.”
Riley Green
Eric Ryan Anderson
Billboard’s 2025 Country Power Players Groundbreaker, who had never been on a plane before he signed his record deal with Nashville Harbor in 2018, is now expanding his audience beyond America. He opened for Morgan Wallen in front of 50,000 people at London’s BST Hyde Park last July 4, played several shows in Australia in October and headlined a string of Canadian dates this spring. He jokes that Canadian fans were severely disappointed that his Instagram-famous dog, Carl the Cowboy Corgi, didn’t tag along: “Everywhere we went, in my meet-and-greet people would come in, they’d be looking at my feet to see if he was there. They didn’t care about me at all.”
Carl and Green’s other two dogs were at his 680-acre Alabama farm, which Green only managed to visit five times last year. His trips there could become even less frequent. “Riley called me about a year ago and asked about Tim McGraw and how did Tim [get into acting],” Borchetta says. “That’s something that he is going to spend some energy on, and I think we could see another gear with him in that space.”
“When things are going well, you’ve got to go. ‘Make hay while the sun is shining’ is what Granddaddy would say,” Green says. “And I feel like that’s where I am. Things are going really well.”
This story appears in the May 31, 2025, issue of Billboard.
“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” a curious fan asks BigXthaPlug as the rapper and his entourage are escorted through Coachella’s artist entrance.
BigX has probably heard that phrase a lot lately. From Beyoncé using the good-naturedly boastful “The Largest” as part of an interlude on the Cowboy Carter tour to earning a top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for his Bailey Zimmerman collaboration, “All the Way,” the Dallas native radiates Texas-sized star power.
And while BigX’s booming voice and larger-than-life stage presence have helped him become one of rap’s most recognizable newcomers, the 26-year-old born Xavier Landum is preparing to take his outsized charm across genre lines with his highly anticipated country-trap project.
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“Everybody is realizing I’m not just a rapper — I’m an artist,” BigX says while reclining in the cavernous living room of the Indian Wells, Calif., estate he’s calling home for Coachella, as vitamins flow through an IV drip into his beefy bicep. “I feel like it’s not [me] trying to take over somebody’s situation. It’s more like, ‘Hey, I’m an artist and I want to see if I can do this as well.’ ”
BigX landed on the country scene in 2022 with his platinum-certified breakout hit, “Texas,” and its music video, in which he threw on a cowboy hat while rapping over bluesy acoustic slide guitar. Some believed BigX had country roots, having been raised in the 214 — but the self-described “city boy” bluntly admits he “never listened to country music in my life.” Instead, he grew up on the mix of rap, soul and R&B, ranging from Lil Wayne to 2Pac to The Isley Brothers, that his parents played.
But as his career picked up steam, some of his biggest new fans turned out to be country superstars like Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll (who just brought BigX out during his 2025 Stagecoach set), Post Malone and Luke Combs. “So many people from the country world said they f–ked with me and wanted to do something with me,” says BigX, who was genuinely surprised by the crossover appeal.
The seeds were planted for a country project. “We buckled down and did it before the next person would do it,” he says. BigX’s right-hand producers — Tony Coles, Bandplay and Charley Cooks — collected different sounds to create a perfect country-trap blend that remained true to BigX’s signature soulfulness.
“I wouldn’t say my version of country music is country music. It’s kind of mixing the two sounds,” he explains. “I’m rapping on a bunch of country-style beats, but it’s not just country. I’m not on there sounding like no cowboy; I’m rapping. I’m just doing it from a country standpoint. I’m not saying it was easy — it definitely was a challenge.”
Among those challenges: For a country project, BigX felt he needed a different mentality from the one he has had while recording his upcoming rap album. “I was just coming out of my sad era and I don’t really drink liquor like that, [so] it was kind of harder to do,” he admits.
But the early returns on his country gamble have been both immediate and massive: First single “All the Way” debuted at No. 4 on the Hot 100 in April and became BigX’s first Hot Country Songs No. 1.
“All the Way” was a year-and-a-half in the making before its release. After hearing the rapper was working on a country project, Zimmerman thought it would be “insane” to work with BigX. A few months later, “All the Way” was in his inbox.
“It didn’t feel like we were trying to be something. It just felt right and a great song,” the rising country artist says, adding that he hopes “All the Way” encourages other artists from different genres to team up. “It always felt off to me that we wouldn’t go have fun with Snoop Dogg or go have fun with Eminem like Jelly [Roll] did.”
While BigX considers the project done on his end, his team is still awaiting verses from potential collaborators and doesn’t want to shut the door on any 11th-hour tweaks. As it is, BigX’s country rodeo is already shaping up to be a star-studded affair, with Jelly Roll, Post Malone, Shaboozey and more onboard.
“I didn’t think I was going to get as much positive feedback as I’ve been getting,” he says of the wide-ranging approval he has received from the country community, including being honored as Billboard’s 2025 Country Power Players Innovator. “A lot of people, I feel like, wouldn’t even accept that. A lot of people don’t even accept people of my color even trying to be in that lane. Just to be accepted the way it’s being accepted and everyone wanting to work with me — I’m grateful.”
This story appears in the May 31, 2025, issue of Billboard.
The Morgan Wallen juggernaut soared even higher this week as his new album, I’m the Problem, only proved problematic for its chart competitors.
The Big Loud/Mercury set debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 493,000 equivalent album units, according to Luminate, making it the biggest week for any release this year. Additionally, Wallen broke his own record with 37 songs on The Hot 100, taking up more than a third of the chart with his titles alone and claiming the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 spots, the first for a country artist.
The album, which has already logged three No. 1s on the Country Airplay chart, also debuts at No. 1 on Top Country Albums, knocking Wallen’s 2023 set, One Thing at a Time, out of the top spot and his 2021 album, Dangerous: The Double Album, down from No. 2 to No. 3.
Internationally, Wallen scores his first No. 1 on the U.K. Albums chart, besting One Thing at a Time, which debuted at No. 40. And all that activity helps earn Kolby Vetter, Wallen’s day-to-day manager at Sticks Management, the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
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Here, Vetter — who previously worked at Wallen’s booking agency, the Neal Agency, as well as Red Light Management and CAA — details the album’s rollout and how Wallen is leading the way domestically and internationally. “For the country genre as a whole, there has always been this myth that country music has a cap globally,” he says. “That glass ceiling is being shattered, and I think Morgan is leading the charge on that.”
I’m The Problem debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums. What decisions did you make leading up to the release that you felt would increase its chances for a No. 1 debut?
You can do all the planning and strategizing in the world, but at the end of the day it comes down to the music and how it resonates with people. I think everyone knew from the get-go the songs that Morgan was putting on this record were going to be strong and relatable. He spent a lot of time writing and crafting every detail of this project, and I think it shows.
The album is a joint project between Big Loud and Mercury. What was the division of duties between the labels?
There were a lot of different perspectives from a whole lot of smart people in a room together. Some of the best ideas for this album rollout came from the time spent sitting in a conference room together, bouncing ideas off of each other, each of us being unafraid to dream big. This whole project was a total team effort. Working with Seth England and his team at Big Loud was great; they’ve been with Morgan from the very beginning, which is a huge asset. Then you bring in guys like [Mercury’s] Tyler Arnold and Alex Coslov, who are responsible for building the careers of so many artists outside of the country format, and it becomes obvious why they are so successful.
I’m the Problem also debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. Albums chart, marking Wallen’s first No. 1 on that chart and a huge leap after One Thing at a Time debuted at No. 40 there. How did playing London’s Hyde Park last summer play into the plan for the U.K. and what other steps did you take to land such a high debut?
[Hyde Park] was a massive moment that really cemented Morgan’s status as a superstar in the U.K. and beyond. It was also a time for us as his team to sit there and think, “What’s possible here?” It’s really a testament to [Wallen’s manager and booking agent] Austin Neal and the strategy he has put in place from a touring perspective. The sky is the limit. And just for the country genre as a whole, there has always been this myth that country music has a cap globally. That glass ceiling is being shattered, and I think Morgan is leading the charge on that.
The album also debuted at No. 1 in New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Scotland and Canada. How will you continue to support the album and build his international career? When will his next global tour be?
We have an insanely talented international team with the folks at Big Loud/UMG and our internal team at Sticks Management. They are always combing through data and finding areas where growth is happening and where the next pop off could be. We’re able to draw from that data to formulate unique ways to break the market. Interesting enough, Morgan is seeing real growth in China. The tour is being worked on currently, but plans are coming together for an international run in 2026.
Wallen played an intimate show at London’s Roundhouse on Wednesday (May 28). How is that furthering his U.K. base or was that show mainly for the U.K. industry?
The idea for this show started way back in January. Last album cycle Morgan played a free show in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena, and it was a massive success. I don’t think I have ever seen a longer line. This time we thought it would be cool to go play a stripped-back set in an intimate setting where fans could get up close and personal. Morgan hasn’t played a room of this size in years, so I think it’s a cool moment for him as well to go back to where he started, and to be in a room where he can see the face of every fan.
Wallen is the first country artist to claim the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 spots on the Hot 100 with his duet with Tate McRae, “What I Want,” at No. 1. He told Billboard that he found out about Tate from his sister. What were the next steps after that with her camp to have the duet happen?
That one was all Morgan. They have known each other for a couple years and have been discussing a collab when the right song presented itself. As Morgan has said, “What I Want” wasn’t written as a duet but rose to the forefront and felt like the perfect match for them. Vocally it’s powerful, and they complement each other very well. We’re really excited to see what this song will do.
Was there any discussion that 37 tracks may be too many, or given that One Thing at A Time had 36 tracks and was still at the top of the charts, has the belief always been bigger is better?
I think we all knew this album would have a good number just by what we were hearing coming out of the writing rooms. So many great songs. They went into the studio and cut 50 tracks and worked back from there. If there is one thing I’ve learned about Morgan since working together, it’s that he is extremely tuned in. If there was any song that he didn’t feel totally great about or it didn’t feel like the right time for the song, it didn’t make the cut. Morgan has earned the right to that creative freedom. He had a lot of things to say on this album, and I think the 37 songs he chose to include reflect that.
At this year’s Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards, Ella Langley was the biggest winner of the night — but she can still recall fighting to perform in sweaty, hole-in-the-wall clubs in her home state of Alabama.
“I was the only woman, really, in that scene,” the 26-year-old artist says. “I was living with two other artists who were getting gigs over me. I was like, ‘I play just as good as they do. My band’s just as good as theirs. Give me a chance.’ There were times I’d have to send a couple of extra emails, but once they let me in [the venues], they would want me back. It made me work harder. But I grew up with a lot of strong women, so I’ve never looked at myself as anything other than equal.”
In the male-dominated country genre, Langley’s determination — along with her blockbuster single, the flirty, recitative Riley Green collaboration, “you look like you love me” — has helped usher her to the forefront of a new generation of country artists. Her lyrics are frank and unfiltered, her music a blend of neo-traditional country with a folk-rock edge, and she approaches her shows with the swagger of someone who battled for the attention of fans in those sweaty clubs and won.
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Onstage at the ACM Awards, while accepting the trophy for music event of the year for “you look like you love me” — one of five awards that she received — Langley again acknowledged the power of following her vision and instincts. “Everyone said this song was going to be the most underperforming song on the record,” Langley said of the duet — which ultimately defied expectations by topping Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in December and becoming her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.
The video for “you look like you love me” has an Old West saloon vibe, but Langley has cultivated her own version of vintage-rock style that has drawn comparisons to 1970s music icons like Linda Ronstadt and Jessi Colter.
“I’m a tomboy [who] grew up with brothers, but I love to do my makeup and get dressed up,” says Langley, who can often be found in the forest deer hunting when she’s not onstage. “Jessi Colter was the outlaw of the outlaws. She didn’t put up with s–t, and I don’t either. I think the things they wrote about were very honest. That’s all I’m trying to do — write songs that mean something.”
That goal has roots in her Hope Hull, Ala., upbringing. Growing up in a musically inclined family, Langley says she learned to read by singing from a hymnal and became a disciple of classic artists such as Ronstadt and Stevie Nicks, but also modern ones including Miranda Lambert. (Langley performed Lambert’s “Kerosene” with her at the ACM Awards.)
Langley’s love of nature led her to study forestry at Auburn University, but she ultimately decided to pursue music, refining her performance and songwriting skills and honing her craft. She relocated to Nashville in 2019 and signed with Columbia Records/SAWGOD in June 2022, releasing the song “Country Boy’s Dream Girl” later that year and then following it with her EP Excuse the Mess in 2023. She wrote songs recorded by Elle King and collaborated with Koe Wetzel and Kameron Marlowe, but broke through in her own right with “you look like you love me,” which she began to work on with songwriter Aaron Raitiere while on tour opening for fellow Alabama native Green in early 2024.
Langley’s musical chemistry with Green, who contributed the song’s second verse and joined her on vocals, was undeniable — as was the catchy chorus. The track officially arrived in June, and the pair performed it on tour. When she issued her debut full-length album, Hungover, in August, “love me” surged on the charts. The 14-song set highlighted her unapologetic brand of songwriting, fusing it with rock’n’roll acuity (“Girl Who Drank Wine,” “I Blame the Bar”) while also conveying raw vulnerability (“People Change”).
This fall, Langley will extend her headlining Still Hungover Tour with additional dates, and she’s at work on a new album, which could arrive next year. “It’s unlike anything I’ve put out, and it’s the most me I’ve ever felt on a record,” she says of her forthcoming music. She dreams of one day adding acting and writing cookbooks to her résumé (“My kind of cooking is redneck cooking”) — but for the moment, music is her focus. Though it’s too early to tell whether the album will feature duets, “There will be things this year with collaborations that will appease the fans,” she teases.
Whatever shape the new album takes, one thing is certain: Billboard‘s 2025 Country Power Players Rising Star will keep making music her way.
“Where’s the damn rulebook that people keep telling me about?” she says. “I have yet to see it.”
This story appears in the May 31, 2025, issue of Billboard.
On Friday (May 30), a new wave of performers was unveiled for Billboard Country Live, coming June 5-6 to Category 10, Luke Combs’ Nashville bar and live music venue. The event will spotlight some of country music’s emerging talent alongside influential industry power players.
The festivities kick off Wednesday, June 4, with an exclusive gathering on the rooftop of Category 10 honoring Billboard’s Country Power Players, a premier event, presented by Bud Light, recognizing the most influential figures shaping the genre today — including Stacy Vee of Goldenvoice/AEG, our 2025 Executive of the Year.
On Thursday, June 5, the excitement continues with a showcase concert presented by Bud Light, which will feature newly announced country hitmaker Mitchell Tenpenny joining a lineup that already includes Alexandra Kay, Ashley Cooke, Drew Baldridge, Max McNown and Reyna Roberts. The showcase-style concert inside Category 10 will also include Billboard‘s video lounge, where Major League Baseball will film exclusive interviews with the country stars behind players’ walk-up songs.
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Tenpenny’s history on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart extends back to 2018 and includes three top 10s of eight total hits: 2018’s “Drunk Me” and 2022’s “Truth About Me,” which both peaked at No. 2, and his chart-topping Chris Young duet “At the End of a Bar” in 2021.
The Billboard Country Live celebration extends to Friday, June 6, with a second night of music that will spotlight “Country on the Rise,” shining a light on the genre’s future hitmakers. Featured performers will include Cooper Alan, Graham Barham, Harper Grace, Jake Worthington, Tayler Holder and Timmy McKeever.
Find the full lineups below, and to attend, visit live.billboard.com/country to RSVP.
Morgan Wallen holds firm at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart for a second week with I’m the Problem. The album has also topped charts in the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand and parts of Europe.
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Wallen was also the last male country artist to reach No. 1 in Australia, spending two weeks on top in 2023 with One Thing at a Time. Before that, Keith Urban topped the chart in 2020 with The Speed of Now Part 1.
Kisschasy re-enter at No. 28 with Hymns for the Nonbeliever following its vinyl reissue. The album originally peaked at No. 5 in 2007. Australian punk band Private Function debut at No. 43 with ¯_(ツ)_/¯, which includes a limited-edition scratch-and-sniff vinyl inspired by Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop fragrance. The band previously reached No. 9 with Whose Line Is It Anyway? and No. 11 with 370HSSV 0773H.
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Pitbull’s Greatest Hits makes a surprise return to the Top 10, jumping from No. 16 to No. 9 — its highest position since its 2017 release. The timing follows his recent announcement as part of the 2025 Fridayz Live tour alongside Mariah Carey, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Jon, Eve, Jordin Sparks and more. Pitbull’s top-charting album in Australia remains Planet Pit, which reached No. 5 in 2011.
On the ARIA Singles Chart, Alex Warren scores a tenth consecutive week at No. 1 with “Ordinary,” joining an elite group of just 30 tracks to ever spend 10 or more weeks at the top, including Tones and I’s “Dance Monkey” (24 weeks), ABBA’s “Mamma Mia,” Daddy Cool’s “Eagle Rock” and Jack Harlow’s “Lovin’ On Me.”
Sombr continues his rise on the chart, holding both No. 2 with “Undressed” and No. 3 with “Back to Friends.” Warren also claims the highest new entry of the week as “Bloodline,” his duet with Jelly Roll, debuts at No. 16, marking Jelly Roll’s first-ever ARIA Singles Chart appearance.
Kisschasy also dominate the Vinyl Albums Chart, landing at No. 1 with Hymns for the Nonbeliever and No. 5 with United Paper People. Private Function land at No. 2 on the vinyl chart with ¯_(ツ)_/¯, followed by Billie Eilish and Sleep Token.
Kelsea Ballerini is ready to hit pause. The country star appeared on TODAY with Jenna & Friends on Thursday (May 29), where she opened up about her plans after wrapping her Kelsea Ballerini Live on Tour run and completing her first season as a coach on The Voice.
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“I need a break!” Ballerini, 31, said during the interview. “And I’ve never been able to say that before, but I really think it’s just time for me to pump the brakes, figure out what’s next, have a summer, what? Go to the beach? Huh? Learn to cook a new meal, hang out with the dogs. So that’s kind of my agenda.”
Still, she admitted plans can shift quickly. “Every time I say that I have time off, something happens. But I’m very open to whatever is out there.”
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When asked whether she would return to The Voice, Ballerini left the door open. “Never say never,” she said. “It’s been such a beautiful season of doing things that are out of my comfort zone and bigger than I’ve ever done, and it’s been really fulfilling. I love being in that seat.”
The singer wrapped her 22-date arena tour on April 13 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The trek supported her fifth studio album Patterns, released Oct. 25, 2024 via Black River Entertainment. A deluxe edition of Patterns featuring five additional songs dropped in March 2025.
Last month, the singer spoke to Variety for her Power of Women Nashville cover story and reflected on the challenge of building a career in Music City amid Taylor Swift’s enormous presence. As a young, blonde, female singer-songwriter, Ballerini said she was often directly compared to Swift — something that forced her to define her own identity in the industry.
Recalling an early rejection from a label executive, Ballerini shared, “‘There’s already a Taylor Swift,’” he told her. “And he was right,” she added. “It forced me to be different.”
Ballerini previously described Patterns as a reflection of personal growth and radical self-acceptance. “I’m very aware of my flaws,” she said. “But in the same breath, I fully accept and celebrate myself right now. You have to learn yourself before you love yourself, and I had learning to do.”
Chris Stapleton is known for his unmistakable, thousand-watt voice and singing searing songs such as “You Should Probably Leave” and “White Horse,” but it turns out the guy with the burly vocals is also pretty sentimental.
During an interview with actor Josh Brolin as part of Billboard‘s 2025 Country Power Players cover story, Stapleton took Brolin into the space where he keeps a massive collection of guitars. While Stapleton does show some impressive axes such as a guitar that once belonged to Waylon Jennings (a gift to Stapleton from his wife and fellow musician, Morgane), he pulls out another guitar in his collection to show to Brolin — one he considers irreplaceable.
“This is the guitar that I bought when I moved to town, when I moved to Nashville,” Stapleton said, removing a well-used, scratched up acoustic guitar from its case.
“If I had to walk out of here with one thing, it would be this,” Stapleton said. “All the other stuff, I would be sad about a lot of it, but whatever I’ve done, whatever I’ve made, has pretty much been built on this thing. I would say 90% of the things I’ve written in my life has been on this guitar.”
That’s quite the statement, considering that not only has Stapleton written hits recorded by himself, but also hits recorded by artists including Josh Turner, Kenny Chesney and George Strait.
“It’s not precious in a collector way to anybody because it was in a flood at some point,” Stapleton said. “There’s mud inside it, somebody used it as a canoe paddle, there’s a million crack repairs. Yeah, if I were to walk out of here with one thing, if you want to know what’s the most important thing, it’s probably this.”
Elsewhere in the wide-ranging interview, Stapleton discusses the importance of family, the origins of his friendship with Brolin, and the actor even discovers how Stapleton likes his Hattie B’s Hot Chicken order.
Watch the full video interview between Stapleton and Brolin above.
Bunnie XO and Jessie Murph just had a far-out conversation about their first times taking shrooms, with the former revealing she once tripped so hard, she thought she was Michael Jackson.
In a clip from a recent episode Dumb Blonde, the podcaster asked the 20-year-old singer-songwriter to recount giving the psychedelics a try just a few weeks prior at Coachella. “I took them right before y’all’s party, actually,” Murph said, referring to Bunnie and her famous husband, Jelly Roll.
“It was so great,” the “High Road” singer recalled. “I was always apprehensive to try them … because they say it can mentally get you in a weird place.”
“But I had the time of my life,” Murph added. “I just was smiling, it made me really happy. But I’m gonna try not to do them a lot.”
One of Bunnie’s experiences with the drug, however, was a lot less serene. “I thought I was Michael Jackson one time,” she told Murph as both of them laughed. “I was in the snow making snow angels and then I cooked, like, a five-course meal … I did a big dose and it was phenomenal — that’s when I thought I was Michael Jackson.”
“And then I did a microdose and s–t got weird,” Bunnie added. “I started thinking about my childhood.”
According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, shrooms — aka magic mushrooms — are consumed for their hallucinogenic effects caused by key ingredient psilocybin. The psychedelics can alter “a person’s thinking, sense of time and emotions,” an ideally pleasant experience that can sometimes lead to anxiety or paranoia instead.
Bunnie and Murph — who recently earned her highest peak to date on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Blue Strips” reaching No. 15 earlier in May — have been friends for a while. In 2023, the Alabama native teamed up with Jelly for a duet titled “Wild Ones,” reaching No. 7 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and all three of the stars recently walked the red carpet together at the Academy of Country Music Awards — where Murph’s piglet, Wilbur, stole the show.
In June 2024, Bunnie defended Murph against social media trolls who took issue with the latter being featured on Koe Wetzel’s “High Road,” which would reach No. 22 on the Hot 100. “All you grown ADULTS being mean to a beautiful 19-year-old girl who’s pursuing her dreams & has already accomplished so much in her career, more than some of y’all,” the social media star wrote at the time, sharing a video of herself hugging Murph on Instagram. “Don’t play w me or baby girl.”
Watch Bunnie and Murph discuss shrooms below.
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