Huge scandals that rocked country music
Country music's biggest stars are often on their best behavior when they hit the stage for award shows like the CmA Awards or the ACMs, belting out their greatest hits and chatting amiably on the red carpet. However, scenes like that don't always tell the full story. As fans have discovered over the years, their favorite Nashville artists sometimes go off the rails and end up in the pages of supermarket tabloids, deep in scandal while their publicists craft heartfelt apologies.
The nature of those scandals has run the gamut, becoming quite sensational from time to time. Take Spade Cooley. A little-remembered name these days, Cooley was once heralded as the "King of Western Swing" until he was sent to prison for murdering his wife in 1961.
It is to be expected that country music scandals in recent years have tended to be considerably less homicidal. However, there have been scandals, and plenty of them. From the years-long backlash endured by a popular female trio to a famous onstage meltdown that caused a rift between the Grand Ole Opry and a Nashville icon, let's uncover the huge scandals that rocked country music.
Married Jason Aldean misbehaved with a former American Idol contestant
In 2012, country star Jason Aldean was spotted by American Idol contestant Brittany Kerr when Tmz obtained photos of the couple together at a patio bar on L.A.'s Sunset Strip. Aldean and Kerr, the outlet noted, appeared to be "very flirty...hugging, touching each other," with Aldean at one point leaning in for a kiss. As TMZ pointed out, what made the photos particularly uncomfortable was that Aldean was heavily married at the time; he and his high school sweetheart, Jessica Ussery, married in 2001, and were also the parents of two children.
Two days later, Kerr apologized for what she called "a failure of judgment on my part." A few months later, People reported that Aldean had filed for divorce. In a statement to the magazine, he admitted that it was "a very difficult time for my whole family."
Despite the scandal, it all ended happily for Aldean and Kerr when, in March 2015, they married in a barefoot ceremony on a Mexican beach. According to Us Weekly, the wedding was officiated by Duck Dynasty star — and ordained minister — Willie Robertson.
Shania Twain's shockal switcheroo
Shania Twain's personal and professional lives had been intertwined for years as she worked closely with her husband Robert "Mutt" Lange, producer of her hit records. It all fell apart in 2008, when People reported that Lange and Twain had split. The split was rumored to have been sparked by her alleged affair with her personal assistant (and Twain's best friend), Marie-Anne Thiébaud.
Twain confirmed the same thing in her 2012 memoir, From This Moment Onward. When she learned the truth, Twain wrote, she was so devastated that she felt "ready to die, to go to bed forever and never wake up." Looking for a shoulder to cry on, she joined her former friend's husband, Frédéric Thiébaud, the other victim of her ex's betrayal.
The two grew closer, and in 2010, Twain announced her engagement. "I'm in love!" she wrote in a message on her website (via People). "Frédéric Nicolas Thiébaud has been a true gift to me as a compassionate and understanding friend and, over time, incredible love has blossomed from this precious friendship." A few weeks later, People reported, they tied the knot, resulting in the former couples effectively swapping partners.
Renee Zellweger accused Kenny Chesney of 'fraud' in their four-month marriage
Country singer Kenny Chesney and actress Renée Zellweger married in 2005 after a whirlwind romance that took many people by surprise. An even bigger surprise came just four months later, when the Jerry Maguire star filed to have the marriage annulled, with court documents citing "fraud" as the reason for their split. Eyebrows rose; With neither Zellweger nor Chesney spelling out exactly what that "fraud" entailed, people jumped to one conclusion: Was he gay?
Chesney set the record, so to speak, when he asserted his heterosexuality in a 2007 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper. "Maybe he should have come out and said, 'No, I'm not [gay],' but he didn't want to draw any more attention," Chesney Cooper said. “… He didn't have to prove to anyone that he wasn't. I didn't feel like he really did. Is not true. Period."
Chesney explained that the word "fraud" was used because it was "a bit broad, whatever it is, it doesn't specify." Chesney stated: "The only fraud that was committed was to think ... that I really understood what it was like to be married.
Gretchen Wilson, singer of 'Redneck Woman' arrested after the plane crash
Gretchen Wilson burst onto the country music scene with her 2004 single, "Redneck Woman," but it was more than a decade later that she ended up getting into a redneck-worthy brush with the law after a 2018 American Airlines flight. According to CNN, when the plane landed, Wilson was accosted by state troops who tried to interview her about her alleged involvement in "an altercation" during the flight.
That didn't go well. During the conversation, Connecticut State Police told CNN, Wilson allegedly "turned belligerent toward the soldiers, and caused a disturbance." Apparently, she was placed under arrest.
A few months later, Wilson addressed the incident in an interview with Taste of Country. She claimed that "the things that were reported were not on the base at all, and there was actually no incident on a plane." What happened, Wilson explained, was that "there were some words between me and the state police, and that's where all that came from." The country music star insisted that "all the stuff you read online wasn't true about it," but she wouldn't say more because she had been "instructed not to talk about it."
