Over the last decade, Wheeler Walker Jr. offered his blunt take on the world, country music, and bitter relationships. Not holding back when it came to his opinion, the country singer released albums like Sex Drugs & Country Music. But sadly, the end of the road has come for Walker Jr. as he announced his retirement. Ending his career after more than 20 years in the industry, the country singer insisted that the genre was going to “completely suck” when he stepped off the stage for the last time.
The end is drawing near for Walker Jr. as he prepares for his final album, Pullin’ Out, which will hit streaming platforms on September 25. To help promote the album, he will hit the road for the Pullin’ Out: The Farewell Tour. Those shows will extend into 2027, which will be his final chance to say goodbye to the fans who embraced his unapologetic approach to country music. And knowing Walker Jr., he had no plans of quietly riding off into the sunset.
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Sharing a video on Facebook, Walker Jr. lashed out at the current state of the genre and how Luke Bryan caused him to make his retirement announcement. “I feel like I’m getting out while the getting is good. The second I heard that Luke Bryan song about climb tree … I gotta get out of country music. This is ****** stupid. Country music has just turned into AI.”
Country Music Is Nothing But AI And Songwriters Named Chase
Not wanting to embrace the new era of technology and music, Walker Jr. wasn’t about to compete against a machine. “They have artists on the charts. I don’t want to compete with AI. I want to go out gracefully. If nothing else, I’ve always been graceful. I’m happy to be getting out while the getting is good is how I look at it.”
With Walker Jr. understanding that his announcement was heartbreaking to fans, he added that all of country music would feel the loss. “Of course, I’ll leave a void. Before I came along, country music sucked. While I was in country music it sucked, but I was good. Now that I’m leaving it’s gonna completely suck.”
It wasn’t just Bryan who caught the attention of Walker Jr. For that team of songwriters trying to capture the next hit, he believed they lacked authenticity. “Every song in Nashville is written by twelve idiots named Chase about trucks they don’t own and farms they never worked on. I really don’t wanna be around when country music becomes fully AI, which sadly will be better than most of the crap they’re putting out now.”
Whether country music would actually “completely suck” without Walker Jr. remained to be seen. One thing was certain – it was already a rough day to be any Nashville songwriter named Chase.
(Photo by Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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