Zach Bryan has become one of the biggest stars in country music<\/a> over the past few years, winning legions of fans with a unique blend of Americana, self-reflection, and heartfelt love songs, while staying far away from politics. <\/p>\n But that may be about to change, as the 29-year-old has waded into the political moment with a lament of the fading American dream and an attack on raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) <\/a>around the country, a part of President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation <\/a>program.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAnd ICE is gonna come, bust down your door \/Try to build a house no one builds no more \/But I got a telephone \/Kids are all scared and all alone,\u201d he sings in the song titled \u201cBad News,\u201d a snippet of which he released on his Instagram page<\/a> on Oct. 3. <\/p>\n Read More: <\/strong>Country Music Should Be Political. After All, It Always Has Been<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Bryan has made a point in the past of staying away from politics and has brushed off any suggestion that his music is political. But many of his fans have assumed he leans to the right, given that most popular country music has been associated with the American right in recent years, despite outliers like Maren Morris, Tim McGraw, Kacey Musgraves. Bryan also praised Trump in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on the then-presidential candidate last year and has been pictured with the president. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n But Bryan, a Navy veteran who was born on a U.S. military base in Japan, also counts fierce Trump critic Bruce Springsteen as a musical hero, and called him \u201cOne of the greatest men to ever exist.\u201d Springsteen has surprised audiences with appearances at several of Bryan\u2019s shows last year and was featured on Bryan\u2019s 2024 album, The Great American Bar Scene.<\/em><\/p>\n Read More: <\/strong>Bruce Springsteen\u2019s Long Journey Home<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n In Bryan\u2019s new song, he appears to have taken inspiration from Springsteen\u2014known for his era-defining protest songs “Born in the U.S.A.” and “My Hometown”\u2014while paying homage to his hero.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Boss stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling \/The middle fingers rising and it won\u2019t stop showing \/I got some bad news \/The fading of the Red, White and Blue,\u201d Bryan sings. <\/p>\n Springsteen has made headlines more recently for his public criticism of President Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people bought into his lies,\u201d Springsteen said in a recent interview with TIME. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t care about the forgotten anybody but himself and the multibillionaires who stood behind him<\/a> on Inauguration Day.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Bryan\u2019s lyrics appear to be dividing his fans already. The song became a trending topic on X as people dissected the new teaser track.<\/p>\n John Rich, a conservative country singer with 1.4 million followers on X, said<\/a>: \u201cWho’s ready for the Zach Bryan-Dixie Chicks tour? Prob a huge Bud Light sponsorship for this one,\u201d referring to the American country band\u2014now the Chicks\u2014that changed their name to avoid association with the Confederacy and famously spoke out against George W. Bush’s administration, as well as the boycott against Bud Light for partnering with a transgender influencer.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is how you loose [sic] the majority of your fan base,\u201d said<\/a> another woman.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGuess he forgot the people that support and listen to his music.\u00a0 Now, he’s just another has-been,\u201d said<\/a> another.<\/p>\n But Bryan may have won some new fans. Michelle Kinney, leader of the liberal superPAC The Seneca Project, praised the song and called for more artists to show \u201cmoral and artistic courage.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMORE OF THIS!!!\u201d Kinney said<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n Trump has dramatically increased immigration raids across the United States in his second term as he aims to meet his goal of carrying out the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S history. This weekend, witnesses described a military-style ICE raid<\/a> on an apartment building in South Shore Chicago, in which children were pulled out of their apartments in the middle of the night, zip-tied, and put in vans. <\/p>\n Bryan released the song snippet just days after setting a record for the highest-attended ticketed concert in U.S. history, with 112,408 fans gathering to watch him perform at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n