Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Tammie Arroyo/Variety via Getty Images, Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images
Maybe you’ve been laying off the beer and whiskey for a bit of a reset at the beginning of the year, but it looks as though the country stars haven’t. Chris Young was arrested at a Nashville bar on January 22 and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assault of an officer. According to NBC, Young followed a Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission agent from Tin Roof, just off Lower Broadway, to the bar next door, DawgHouse Saloon, after the agent checked his ID. At DawgHouse, the “At the End of a Bar” singer allegedly tried to block the agent from leaving and hit him, per arrest affidavits; the agent pushed Young in response. When he was eventually arrested, he was reportedly slurring his speech and had bloodshot eyes. After security footage showing the agent pushing Young was released, Young’s attorney said he shouldn’t have been arrested. “In light of the video evidence, Tennessee ABC needs to drop the charges and apologize for the physical, emotional and professional harm done towards my client,” said Bill Ramsey, his attorney.
Just days before, on January 19, Elle King sparked controversy by taking the Grand Ole Opry stage noticeably drunk for a tribute to Dolly Parton — on Parton’s birthday no less. The “Drunk (and I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” singer admitted she was “fucking hammered” after she finished a messy performance of Parton’s “Marry Me,” CBS reported. She even prompted an apology from the Mother Church itself, which tweeted, “we deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used” in King’s performance. She has yet to respond.
Sure, not everybody in Nashville is imbibing — Ashley McBryde and Jon Pardi both, commendably, capped off last year by revealing they were sober. Even Chris Stapleton is cutting back while still growing his bourbon collection. But not even Dry January can keep some of the genre’s artists from putting down their red Solo cups.