Zach Bryan Surprises Fans By Showing Love to Morgan Wallen's ‘I'm the Problem’ on Instagram

If you follow Zach Bryan on Instagram, you'll have grown accustomed to the ‘Something in the Oranger’ singer-songwriter's penchant for sharing what he's listening to via his Stories.

Often it's Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers makes a few appearances and we of course remember his infamous stint of posting Kanye songs, before quickly pivoting and spamming followers with an apologetic flurry of Taylor Swift tracks. Zach Bryan also tends to use his Stories as an outlet for spotlighting up-and-comers he's fond of.

This weekend, though, to his followers’ bemusement, the ‘I Remember Everything’ chart-topper shared that he's been listening to Morgan Wallen's ‘I'm the Problem’. The brooding, post-break-up anthem serves as the title-track to Wallen's forthcoming album.

Usually, one country artist showing love to another's music wouldn't warrant so much as a raised eyebrow. However, Zach Bryan has a somewhat tricky track record when it comes to Morgan Wallen, especially following his contentious split from Brianna LaPaglia in November, after which a host of troubling allegations came to light.

While co-hosting her BFF's Podcast following the break-up, Brianna LaPaglia accused Zach Bryan of emotional abuse and a range of shocking behaviour. Just last week, LaPaglia returned to TikTok to allege there was even more she didn't tell fans at the time.

One of Brianna LaPaglia recollections from that initial BFF's Podcast episode revolved around Zach Bryan supposedly getting angry when he heard her singing a Morgan Wallen song.

LaPaglia recalled, “One morning, we were out the night before, and one morning I woke up and I was scrolling TikTok, and ‘Last night, we let the liquor talk’ was stuck in my head. And I walk up the stairs in the New York apartment, and I’m singing, I’m about to make breakfast or something like that… he freaked the fuck out. Like, freaked the fuck out. He could not believe...‘You’re singing another man’s song under my roof, in this house, that I own’. It was a fight for, I think, a week”.

Back in 2021, after Morgan Wallen's racial slur incident, Zach Bryan took to Twitter to quip, “Didn't know this is what @MorganWallen meant by country ass shit with country ass friends”.

A couple of years later, after a fan commented on Morgan Wallen's Instagram page, “Three things certain in life: Death, Taxes, and Zach Bryan is better than all mainstream country”, Wallen joked, “he's alright. I'm more of a Charles Wesley Godwin guy myself”.

Throughout his career, Zach Bryan has distanced himself from the Nashville scene, with the folk-leaning crooner even using Auto-Tune satirically on his American Heartbreak stand-out, ‘If She Wants a Cowboy’, to poke fun at commercial country.

Given the fact that Morgan Wallen stands at the pinnacle of the commercial country movement, and that he is the only artist in the genre that can currently outmuscle Zach Bryan in terms of streaming, fans have always assumed - even before Brianna LaPaglia's accusations - that Bryan was not a fan of the Sneedville megastar.

Of late, though, it seems the Oklahoma native's perception of Morgan Wallen has softened, with Zach Bryan suggesting he's been enjoying ‘I'm the Problem’ via Instagram. Earlier in the year, Bryan shared an image of the nominees for a particular award - of which Wallen was one - and underlined that he was a fan of each candidate.

With the intricate, stripped-back feel and the vulnerable lyricism of ‘I'm the Problem’, you can see why Zach Bryan - who prefers sparser compositions - would be drawn to it.

With Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan undeniably the two biggest forces in modern country, a bolt-from-the-blue collaboration between the duo would be a truly blockbuster moment for the genre. It's admittedly difficult to see how these artists’ respective styles would mesh, but either way, it would be fascinating to see. Could Bryan's surprise support of ‘I'm the Problem’ pave the way for a star-studded link-up?

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