Country Music Stars Walker Hayes & Zach Bryan Feuding Over Horrendous Song About Applebee's

Grab your popcorn, country music fans. Drama is brewing between Zach Bryan and Walker Hayes!

What started as a joke on X by (raw, folk country) Bryan has escalated into the world's most pathetic diss track by (goofy, pop country) Hayes. So let's get into it.

It all started when Bryan congratulated Tyler Childers — an insanely talented bluegrass country artist from Kentucky — for his first-ever top 50 radio hit.

"First ever is f-ckn insane, one of the best songwriters to ever do it," Bryan posted on X — an obvious stab at the fact that country radio snubs artists who aren't backed by big-money labels.

Bryan continues with a little jab: "Imagine being radio (whoever the hell that is), hearing Shake the Frost and being like 'no no let's go with the Applebees song.'"

That's a reference to Hayes' hit "Fancy Like."

For those who are unfamiliar with both songs, let me paint you a picture.

Tyler Childers' "Shake the Frost" is a vulnerable, heart-wrenching expression of a man's desire to repair a damaged relationship. Walker Hayes' "Fancy Like" is a silly little bop about a date night at Applebee's.

Sure, you might do a little dancey dance on TikTok to "Fancy Like." But "Shake the Frost" will rattle your soul. Musically, the songs are not even in the same stratosphere.

Still, Hayes got his feelings hurt.

"Big shout to radio for playing dat Applebees song," Hayes tweeted back. "Zach and Tyler praying y'alls continued success."

And Bryan responded: "not insulting anyone! Meant it with humor not malice, different strokes different folks was just bent about the first ever on mainstream radio thing my bad."

OK, that could have been it. The two men could have shaken hands and moved on.

But that's not what happened.

Walker Hayes Fires Back At Zach Bryan

Hayes went to his favorite place — TikTok — to sing about his feelings over this whole feud. But I'm pretty sure Chat GPT wrote it.

"Woke up this morning, read something mean / 'Something in the Orange' tells me you're feeling green," he sings — in reference to Bryan's song "Something In the Orange." "Felt like throwing punches / I just held 'em back / Because Jesus didn’t die for me so I could fight with Zach Bryan."

Jesus also didn't die for you to sing about Oreo shakes and drinking Natural Light out of Styrofoam cups, Walker, but here we are.

Yeah, this one should have stayed in the voice memos.

Hayes just exhibited Bryan's point perfectly: He's nowhere on the same planet as Tyler Childers.

Mainstream Nashville Is Lost

As a longtime and passionate lover of country music, I hate what the industry's become.

There used to be soul. There used to be grit and feeling. Men and women stood on stage with nothing but "three chords and the truth" and poured their hearts out.

Those days are over — at least in mainstream country. As evidenced by the fact that the Applebee's song was certified six-times Platinum.

The big Nashville machine works like this: In goes pickup trucks, cold beers and Daisy Dukes. Out comes a No. 1 hit.

It's disingenuous. It's formulaic. And it's completely uninspiring.

And I don't even really blame these artists for selling out. If you told me I could sing some hokey manufactured tunes and be rewarded with millions of dollars and a choice piece of property in Williamson County, I'd throw on some Luccheses and sign on the dotted line faster than you can count to "One Margarita."

Walker Hayes, like so many others, is playing the game and he's cashing in. And that's fine.

But c'mon, Walker. Let's not pretend it's deeper than that.

Follow Amber on X at @TheAmberHarding or email her at Amber.Harding@OutKick.com.