Sturgill Simpson's Bold Protest at Country Music Awards
Sturgill Simpson's 2017 performance outside the Country Music Awards stirred debates, highlighting cultural and political challenges in country music.
Country music has had no shortage of controversies, but few have stirred so much debate as Sturgill Simpson’s impromptu gig outside the Country Music Awards in 2017. Choosing to not partake in the official celebration of the genre in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Sturgill instead took to the streets, busking and live-streaming the event on his Facebook page for all to see. His ‘set’ was less about the music and more about his contempt for the contemporary, mainstream country, with as much political commentary as wishful thinking; at one point, Sturgill called then-POTUS Donald Trump a fascist.
More than anything, the performance validated Simpson’s status as an insurgent, simultaneously bringing up a whole lot of discussions across country music communities and all social media platforms. In all, Sturgill’s protest performance did not only bolster his credentials as a country iconoclast but also highlighted all the cultural and political challenges that the genre still faces.
