Country was thrust into the middle of a political battle, but Dolly Parton wanted to stay out of the fray

On Tuesday, the President of the United States Donald Trump the country legend expressed his condolences Dolly Partonin due to death. Trump spoke highly of the singer and declared a week of mourning for the United States.

Trump’s tribute comes at a time when country music has become an even more prominent part of the culture built around his political movement.

Even before Trump’s second term, country music gained great popularity in the United States. For example, in 2023, country songs and albums will dominate the Billboardlists.

In 2024, The Times reported how country music was seen to be divided between left and right. Concert tours and their audiences also began to have more obvious political labels than before, the newspaper told.

According to The Times, musical divides began to intensify with the rise of Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

It was noticed that music began to become part of the culture wars, when it became a way for opposing political sides to express their feelings of frustration and find like-minded company.

Country music developed above all in the southern parts of the United States from the influences of folk music, blues and gospel.

The style of the genre includes, for example, story-centeredness as well as the description of the life of an “ordinary” person and working-classness.

According to The Times, Republicans in particular have tried to take over the country before and after Trump’s re-election. Among other things, the music was used as a symbol for their claims that the Democrats are the Washington elite.

For example, a country singer Lee Greenwoodin God Bless the USA –the song was played when Trump took the stage at election events.

Rolling Stone reported late last year how, even in Trump’s first term, Nashville’s mainstream country music industry was wary of identifying with the polarizing president.

However, according to the magazine, the situation seems to have changed in Trump’s second term, when openly supporting the MAGA movement has in some cases also proven to be commercially profitable in the music business.

Inter alia Carrie Underwood performed at Trump’s inauguration, Parker McCollum at the inauguration ceremony and Nate Smith wearing a MAGA cap at his gig, Rolling Stone gives examples.

Although Republicans have tried their own country music, some country artists have begun to challenge this setup.

For example, a popular country musician Zach Bryanin published in January Bad News– the song criticizes the operations of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency ICE and, more broadly, the current state of the United States.

Representatives of the Trump administration have been angered by the lyrics of the song, The Guardian tells.

However, not all country artists have wanted to make their political views public. For example, Dolly Parton tried to avoid party political positions for decades.

CNN:n according to Parton, among other things, he himself has stated that he has an equal number of Democrats and Republicans in his fans.

Parton also twice turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian award, offered by the Trump administration. Honors were offered to him during Trump’s first term.

The country singer said she didn’t accept the medal the first time because her husband was sick. The second time, on the other hand, he did not want to travel because of the corona pandemic, he says, among other things BBC.