Eric Church Caught Flack From His Wife for Dedicating This Song to Her—and He’s Played It at Every Show Since

In 2025, Eric Church crossed a major milestone in his career as he spent the last two decades in country music. Having been part of the genre for twenty years, the singer produced several hit songs, helmed numerous tours, and released eight studio albums. And within those albums were songs like “Love Your Love the Most”, “Doing Life With Me”, and “Hell of a View.” But even with Church finding the right chord when it came to love ballads, the hitmaker decided to celebrate his wife with an interesting song that focused little on love and more on drugs. 

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Just a few weeks ago, Church traveled to Detroit, Michigan, to entertain fans with his newest album, Evangeline Vs. the Machine. While performing the entire new album, he also threw in a few covers, like Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band’s “Against the Wind.” But during the show, he paused for a moment to recall the moment he dedicated “That’s Damn Rock & Roll” to his wife. 

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For those unfamiliar with the track, it centered on the world of rock music and how stars fell into the trap of drugs and backstage sex. Church stated, “I was kind of caught up in the moment of the show, and I wanted to call them out and talk about how important this journey has been for me. And I happened to call them out and talk about that before the next song that I’m about to play you.”

[RELATED: Undercover Chief: Watch Eric Church Go Incognito at His Own Concert]

Eric Church Didn’t Exactly Learn His Lesson

With Church now understanding how bad the decision was, he added, “The first few lines of this song are: ‘It ain’t a needle in a vein. It ain’t backstage sex. It ain’t lines of cocaine on a private jet.’”

As for what his wife thought, Church insisted she wasn’t too thrilled about being honored with such a song. “I walk off stage, and my wife goes, ‘What the f*** is wrong with you?’  She goes, ‘There’s 30 songs you could have dedicated to me, but those first three lines alone… that’s f***** up.’” 

While surely learning his lesson, it seemed that Church didn’t take the feedback from his wife as he concluded, “I’ve played this song every show since.” Despite the mix-up, the singer’s hilarious story proves that even the biggest stars can still miss a note when it comes to romance.

(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for ABA)