John Rich isn’t a politician, but he does have some thoughts on the state of the union.
The country star, known best for his work with the duo Big & Rich, has been voicing his opinions over the past few years through his music with songs like “Earth to God” and “Progress.”
One of his latest, “End of the World,” with rapper Tom MacDonald, sees the two artists from different genres come together to provide a voice for those wondering where the United States is headed.
“He’s got face tattoos. I mean, he is the furthest thing from what I look like,” Rich told Fox News Digital of his collaborator. “We’re pretty opposite on about every level, except for the fact that he loves his freedom. He loves the United States, he appreciates hard work and all the people out there.”
John Rich told Fox News Digital that America “doesn’t look like the country that we used to know, and everybody is very concerned about [it.]” (Jason Kempin)
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“End of the World” features lyrics from MacDonald, a Canadian-born wrestler-turned rapper, including, “Feels like the end is near, our freedom’s disappearin’/People playin’ God, call it genetic engineerin’/Media misleading us and evil’s interfering/While the government we need became the power that we’re fearin’.”
Rich sings on the song’s chorus, highlighting the past and pondering the future.
“We stood on top of mountains, we’ve been to space before/We had our dogs and houses, we dug up dinosaurs/We built those bombs they’re droppin’, we’ve fought in all their wars/Now that the sky is fallin’, what did we do it for?” he sings.
The “Shuttin Detroit Down” singer told Fox News Digital, “We see how our country is being dismantled piece by piece right in front of our eyes. I mean, it doesn’t look like the country that we used to know, and everybody is very concerned about [it]: ‘Man, what’s it look like in another year or five years or, God forbid, 10 years? What does it look like?’”
When MacDonald approached him with the song, Rich was happy to participate because he felt it summed up his feeling about the changing landscape of America.
“I said, ‘I got to tell you, that’s kind of how I feel about it,'” Rich recalled. “Is this it? Like, is this how it ends? Is this how America, you know, rides off into the sunset? I hope not. But he asked me to come sing on the song, and I did. I think it was a pretty incredible mashup. It actually went to the No. 1 position there on the sales chart for about a week.”
Rich is no stranger to musical success. As part of the country duo Big & Rich, the Amarillo, Texas-born musician has had two albums, “Horse of a Different Color” and “Comin’ to Your City,” go platinum in the U.S., as well as scoring a No. 1 country hit, “Look at You.”
The duo has been off and on hiatus, last releasing an album together in 2017 titled “Did It for the Party.”
In the meantime, Rich has also written hits for other artists, including “Redneck Woman” by Gretchen Wilson, “Why” for Jason Aldean, and he co-wrote the Taylor Swift song “The Way I Loved You.”
Rich has always been dedicated to his fan base and the people he feels need representation, whether through music, political activism or television gigs.
In 2014, he started the lifestyle brand Redneck Riviera, inspired by the stretch of the Gulf Coast along Florida to Alabama.
The brand offers apparel, a boot line, snacks, whiskey and a bar in the heart of Nashville, where he recently made a statement by pulling Bud Light from his shelves after the beer company’s controversial partnership with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney.
Singer-songwriter John Rich poses with bottles of Redneck Riviera Whiskey and Redneck Riviera Granny Rich Reserve Whiskey during the 2020 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show. (Gilbert Carrasquillo)
But Rich also remains focused on making statements with his music.
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In February, he teased some of his upcoming music on his Twitter account, posting a video of himself playing a new song titled “I’m Offended!”
“It might be the funniest song I’ve ever read,” he said. “It is absolutely hilarious. It is hysterical, from beginning to end. I shot the music video on it last week, so we’re working on that, getting that done, and it basically talks about the culture that we’re in that everybody’s offended about everything all the time.”
“You know, remember back in the day when I was growing up, you had shows [or characters like] Archie Bunker [on ‘All in the Family’] and ‘The Jeffersons’ and ‘Married with Children.’ I mean, there was all kinds of stuff going on on those shows that those shows would not be allowed to exist today. Cancel culture would wipe those out,” the 49-year-old added.
The musician also said he wanted to “have some fun with it” when it came to tackling cancel culture.
The chorus of the song reflects that idea with lyrics like, “I’m offended/You’re offended/Let’s all get offended tonight/I’ll order us a beer, we can sit down right here/and scream and yell and cuss and fuss and fight.”
John Rich is releasing a new song soon titled “I’m Offended!” poking fun at cancel culture. (Jason Kempin)
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Rich’s latest album is set to come out in late May or early June, according to the star.
And even as the country remains deeply divided on a host of topics, Rich still believes in the principles America was founded on, namely, the right to pursue happiness.
“America doesn’t guarantee the right to be happy, but guarantees you the right to pursue happiness, meaning America gives you the guarantee to go exhaust your potential,” he said.
“It’s up to you to exhaust your potential – how hard you want to work, how big you want to think. You know, people that come to our country from other countries, they come here not because they think they’re going to get rich or popular or famous. They come here because they know they’re capable of accomplishing more than what they were capable of accomplishing from wherever they came from.”
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That concept inspires him every day.
“It’s why it gets me up in the morning, why I’m grateful to be an American,” he said.
He added, “How lucky are we that we’re born in this country where every day that you wake up, you’ve got a right to pursue happiness? And it’s not even a right given to you by the government. It’s an inalienable right, meaning that’s a right given by God. He created human beings to go after it and to exhaust their potential as His creation. To me, it’s one of the greatest things about our country.”