Johnny Lee Says Today’s Country Stars Have the Genre ‘in Good Hands’ [Exclusive Video]
Three-and-a-half decades ago, in 1980, Johnny Lee scored a crossover hit with the song “Lookin’ for Love." Today, even though country music sounds much different than back then, the singer says that he's okay with those changes, calling them "inevitable" and even "good."
"Country music's been changing since the day it started," Lee says in the exclusive video above. "Bro-country" wasn't a thing back when Lee started, but the genre was still changing.
"You go back and listen to some old lead guitars, or steel players taking the lead in an old country song ..." Lee points out. "Those were probably some of the most technically advanced guitar licks up to that point in music."
Future guitar players built on that foundation, and the players after them continued the build, as did the players that followed them -- and therefore, Lee concludes, country music kept changing, and continues to change to this day. The artist admits that there's a lot of music in the genre that he doesn't believe is truly country music, but he adds, "Hey, it's still good music."
"I'm all for change. My music changed country music when it came a long time ago," Lee reflects. "I think country music's in good hands. It's gonna survive."
Lee's first album in 10 years, You Ain't Never Been to Texas, is available for purchase on his official website.