Zach Bryan, John Moreland Feud Explained: Here’s What Happened

Zach Bryan’s reported $350 million publishing deal has devolved into a feud with fellow Tulsa, Oklahoma, musician John Moreland, with Bryan removing the song they recorded together from all streaming services. 

The track in question, “Memphis; the Blues,” appeared on Bryan’s 2024 album, The Great American Bar Scene. While Moreland has enjoyed a solid career of his own over the past couple of decades, “Memphis; the Blues” was one of his most popular songs on Spotify, with more than 20 million streams before it was taken down. In a series of Instagram Posts last Friday (per Variety), Bryan said he planned to rerelease the track, ostensibly without Moreland’s contributions. 

Moreland, however, insisted he was not fazed by the rebuke. In his own IG Stories posts, he called Bryan a “dickhead,” and leveled several accusations against him. Moreland said he heard Bryan tell “borderline racist jokes more than once”; and he claimed that Bryan once brought a “19-year-old girl in the bar,” and when the country star was told the woman couldn’t be in there, Bryan looked at Moreland like he was “supposed to have his fucking back.” 

A rep for Bryan did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment. A rep for Moreland declined to comment.

As for how all of this ties back to Bryan’s new publishing deal, Moreland launched the first social media salvo after news of the deal broke last week. “$350M is a lot of money to pay for the fu-in off-brand version of me,” he wrote in a now-gone post. “Y’all have a great day.”

A couple days later, Bryan responded, expressing his disappointment and revealing his plans to remove “Memphis; the Blues.” Sharing a screen grab of Moreland’s original post, Bryan wrote, “Yooo just saw this from an artist I’ve always respected and supported. Not trying to be dramatic but refuse to have anyone with a problem with me on my records. Replacing ‘Memphis the Blues.’ If it goes down for a bit just know this is the reason! No hard feelings! Confused as shit, Tulsans look out for Tulsans.”

Moreland eventually released a pair of video responses himself, dismissing Bryan and his fans. “Oh, guys, the Zachies are coming after me,” Moreland said sarcastically in one. “They’re gonna ruin me. They’re gonna cancel my small-time folk-music career that I’ve had since they were in elementary school.”

He then went on to air his own grievances with Bryan, saying that when he was asked to sing on “Memphis; the Blues,” he’d never met Bryan and only knew him as “a really big artist from where I’m from.” Moreland said that he didn’t “have the greatest impression” of Bryan the first time they met, and after recording the song and hanging out with him a few more times, Moreland stated, “I don’t like this motherfucker.” 

He continued: “Am I supposed to be upset? If I was asked to be on the album today, I wouldn’t do it. I don’t want to be on an album with a dude who is a dickhead to my wife and my friends right in front of me every time I see him. I don’t want to be on an album with a dude who I’ve heard tell borderline racist jokes more than once. I don’t want to be on an album with a dude who brings a 19-year-old girl in the bar, and then when they tell him she can’t be in there, looks at me like I’m supposed to have his fucking back. I don’t like that person.”