Keep yourself healthy enough that you can drink all your life \u2026 sobriety is such a fad, trendy thing right now<\/em>,\u201d he said in part, drawing sharp criticism from some for his insensitivity towards people who struggle with the sauce. <\/p>But those comments overshadowed an otherwise compelling, entertaining, and revealing conversation between the burgeoning neotraditional country star and Bert Kreischer, including a handful of instances where Zach Top showed superior character, especially when it came to toasting country legends. <\/p>
When the topic turned to the competitiveness of country music, and the way older country artists are treated, Zach Top said, \u201cCountry wants the older guys to stay around,\u201d <\/em>\u2026something that wasn\u2019t exactly the case some years ago. \u201cThe amount of love that they poured out for Alan Jackson at the [2022] CMA was awesome, and everyone\u2019s bummed that his health isn\u2019t that great anymore, so he\u2019s not touring anymore. George Strait\u2019s still selling out stadiums at whatever he is, 72 or something.\u201d <\/em><\/p>Zach Top then added, \u201cI thought it was so sacrilegious that I won the Grammy for Traditional Country Album, and Willie Nelson was in the category. It\u2019s like \u2018Well, God, I\u2019m glad I won that, but that feels kinda wrong. If anybody should be winning that award, that is as traditional country as it gets is Willie Nelson. But it\u2019s cool how they keep celebrating older guys. Nobody\u2019s trying to push them out.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n