John Rich Says NBC ‘Bastardized’ Country Music
John Rich is busy railing at the corporate fat cats 'Shuttin' Detroit Down,' in his new single. He's also taking aim at network television big wigs, particularly those at NBC who worked with him on the reality competition show, 'Nashville Star.'
"The folks in New York at NBC -- there's some good folks up there, but I swear to God they don't know jack about country music," Rich said in a recent interview with Sirius XM radio.
"I wouldn't touch 'Nashville Star' with a 40-foot pole," he insisted in another interview, with Nashville's Tennessean newspaper. "NBC completely bastardized what country music is about."
Rich says once NBC began airing the singing competition, they insisted on infusing the show with pop music.
"We've got a guy named Kenny Chesney who's 40 years old, who's an east Tennessee hillbilly who sells 80,000 tickets a show," Rich said. "We don't need the other people's music to make us cool enough to listen to."
Rich also revealed that he's likely to be involved in another season of CMT's 'Gone Country,' and added that 'Nashville Star' was at least responsible for helping to find some talented performers.
"Melissa Lawson [the show's 2008 champ] is over the top and not anywhere close to being out of the ball game. You will be hearing more out of her," he insisted.
Rich is set to release his solo album, 'Son of a Preacher Man,' on Tuesday. Its second single, 'Shuttin' Detroit Down,' is already a Top 15 hit after just seven weeks on the charts.
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