John Rich Recalls Being ‘Fired’ From Lonestar

John Rich has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind, and looking back, he can’t deny that his boldness has caused a few bumps in his career. In some cases, his boldness has helped him achieve great success, but other times, like when he was fired from his role in the legendary ‘90s band, Lonestar, it’s caused trouble.

The renowned singer/songwriter played his first gig with the group in December of 1992 and then parted ways in 1998. In that time, he served as the bassist and co-lead vocalist with Richie McDonald and co-wrote two singles, “Come Cryin’ To Me” and “Say When.” Up until now, it was believed that Rich left Lonestar because of potential confusion with having two lead vocalists, it turns out that wasn’t the real issue at hand.

According to Rich, there was a deep tension that grew between him and his bandmates that led to him being let go. Luckily, it wasn’t a huge surprise to him, as he found himself at the center of a disagreement regarding the future of band and their overall sound.

“I deserved to be fired,” Rich admitted on a new episode of the Try That In a Small Town Podcast.

When further questioned about why he was fired from Lonestar, Rich explained that it was his unapologetic outspokenness that made the rest of the group realize he wasn’t the right fit for them.

“You know how I am at 51, I’m rather an intense individual. You can imagine me in my early and mid-twenties what that was all about. I’m wanting to record songs like ‘Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy).’ They’re wanting to record ‘Mr. Mom.’ Completely opposite views,” he shared.

The tension eventually reached its breaking point, and the band collectively came together to tell John Rich to pack up his things following their 1997 New Year’s Eve show.

“And the more aggravated I got, the more aggravated they got. They’re like, ‘Hey, sit down, you’re the junior member.’ Which I was. And eventually that just became unsustainable,” Rich recalls. They said, ‘New Year’s Eve, the gig we just did…yeah that was your last gig.’”

In the end, it turned out to be a positive outcome for both Lonestar and Rich. The band continued their success with timeless tracks such as “I’m Already There,” “Amazed,” and “My Front Porch Looking In” while Rich took some time to explore a solo career on BNA Records in the late 1990s before landing his most notable gig as one half of the Grammy-nominated duo, Big & Rich.

His time with the duo began in 2002 with William Kenneth Alphin, aka Big Kenny. Together, they released three albums on Warner Bros and scored massive hits with the type of music that Rich had always wanted to make, such as “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy).”

Today, Rich continiues to use his platform and business endeavors to advocate for veterans along and remains an integral part of the iconic country music duo.

Big & Rich are commemorating 20 years together with a slew of festival appearances throughout the year as well as headlining shows on their 2025 Celebration Tour featuring Gretchen Wilson. This trek continues on May 23 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.