Maren Morris recently confirmed that she’s not leaving country music for good, and the singer elaborated on how she’s feeling about the genre and her attempts to make a change during Variety‘s Hitmakers event over the weekend. Morris was named the publication’s Changemaker of the Year, and she used her acceptance speech to reflect on the “mountaintop career moments” she has achieved so far, noting that they happened “while knowing, the system I was achieving success in was deeply fractured.”
Says Change Is “Still Desperately” Needed In Country Music
“And above all, centered, get this, men over any other sort of human being making comparable or often times better music,” Morris continued, pointing out that a solo female artist has not appeared in the Top 20 on country radio for the past two weeks “so ‘change’ is still desperately waiting to come.”
The Texas native said she realized “very quickly” that pointing out inequalities in the genre “doesn’t make you the most popular.” “If you dare criticize blatant misogyny, racism, transphobia within the ranks of your industry, you’re met with isolation, death threats, labeled as ‘ungrateful,’ ‘biting the hand that fed you’ or diminishingly told to ‘just shut up and sing,’” she continued, adding that in moments of “backlash” she recalled the stores of her “brave” musical heroines.
“They were massive pains in the ass,” Morris said of female artists like Taylor Swift, The Chicks, Sinead O’Connor and Billie Holiday. “It was then I realized you have to be a giant pain in the ass to make any kind of change because you’re criticizing and trying to dismantle a status quo and making comfortable people feel uncomfortable.”
Touching on each artist’s story, Morris continued, “Taylor Swift turning the tables on exploitative businessmen and taking back ownership of her life’s work by re-recording each of her previous albums, The Chicks criticizing a sitting United States president on invading Iraq at the height of their country music career, Sinead O’ Connor shining a light on the abuses of the Catholic Church on Saturday Night Live, or Billie Holiday continuing to perform ‘Strange Fruit’ in protest even with a racially-targeted, FBI investigation threatening her. They were all told to not bite the hand. They were all told to shut up and sing.”
Inspired By Taylor Swift, The Chicks And More
The 33-year-old told the crowd that she would “never be silly enough to compare myself or my story to these women” but has found “deep inspiration in their courage in my moments of loneliness.”
Morris concluded her speech by explaining that she took a step away because her past “facets” of the music industry had drained her, and that she is in the “throes” of figuring things out.
“We write the songs, we hold the change we seek to make at the tip of our pen, and only we can tell our story, no one else,” Morris explained. “I love making music, and you don’t fight for what you don’t love.” Maren Morris was also profiled by Variety and echoed the final sentiment of her speech. “You don’t fight for what you don’t love,” she said. “I do all of this because I want it to be better for everybody, not just for the few.”
Not Leaving Nashville, Doesn’t Have Plans To Become A “Pop Star”
She also confirmed that she is not leaving Nashville and not planning to become a “pop star.” “Obviously no — like, that’s hilarious,” she said of the idea.
In response to the many times she has spoken out in the country music community in favor of acceptance and inclusivity, Morris noted, “I don’t think of myself as this badass or anything; I just got so sick of being a yes person to get ahead.”
“I’ve been successful, but — I think — at a moral cost,” she added. “I couldn’t keep doing the same song and dance.”
