John Rich Urges Leaders to Protect Nashville’s Live Music Scene: “A 911 Kind Of Situation”

John Rich, best known for being one half of the country music duo, Big & Rich, is pleading with Tennessee leaders to step in as more and more downtown Nashville businesses are on the verge of shutting down amid an ongoing struggle with rising property taxes.

The country star has been making a great effort to ensure his concerns are being heard. He has shared a powerful statement to his own social media platforms, spoke candidly with News 2 and even sat down with Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton to address the significant tax spikes threatening the city’s live music scene.

In a new video shared with fans, Rich begins by asking, “When you think about Nashville, Tennessee, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it live country music? I bet it is. I bet that’s why you come here, because you want to hear the best of the best. You want to go down and hear band after band. You want to hear that great live country music in what? Music City USA, Nashville, Tennessee.”

He went on to argue that the Mayor of Nashville and his administration have increased property assessments, leading to significantly higher taxes that he believes “make it virtually impossible for business owners around Nashville to stay in business.”

Following new property appraisals completed in 2024, updated tax bills went into effect in 2025, with some property owners seeing increases of up to four times their previous bills in just one year. Word began to spread more widely about this troubling news at the start of 2026 when Rob Mortenson, the head of the Broadway Entertainment Association, told FOX17 that the rising taxes could mean the end of many longtime establishments on Broadway.

“These are folks that have been there for 40 years on Broadway, and, you know, they can’t pay the taxes. Their option is, I was told, we’re either going to go bankrupt or go to jail, one of the two, because we literally can’t pay the taxes.”

WSMV 4 Nashville also reported that Tom Morales, owner of Acme Feed & Seed, indicated that he has found himself in the same unfortunate situation. He opened up about fearing for the future of his business after his property taxes went from $129,000 to $600,000.

These skyrocketing numbers are clearly impacting some of the most legendary honky tonks and country music establishments that make up the famed strip. Rich reiterates that several have already been forced to close their doors and if something isn’t done soon, there will be plenty more to follow, which will also have a negative impact on the tourism. He fears that country music fans will no longer have the live music to draw them into town.

“We’ve got a Super Bowl coming to Nashville in a few years. Can you imagine the Super Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee, and you look down Broadway and only about 30 or 40% of those neon signs have electricity still running to them? That’s what we’re looking at,” he stated. “You’re losing people, you’re losing massive business because live country music no longer exists down there.”

Rich continued, “This is a 911 kind of situation for our town, but actually for the state, because those tax dollars find their way into the school system, first responders, all kinds of things that citizens of Tennessee need. A lot of that money gets generated right downtown in Nashville. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican, you know that’s the math.”

Unwilling to back down, the “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” singer, alongside various business leaders, sat down for a meeting with Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton on Wednesday, August 5 to explain the severity of the situation.

“I’m telling you, there were tears coming out of some eyes. There was anger. There was frustration. And there was honestly a sense of almost hopelessness, like we don’t know what to do. We’re going to have to shut our lights off next month or in 60 or 90 days.”

After asking the Speaker, “what can be done?” Sexton explained the next stop is to schedule a special session with Tennessee Govender Bill Lee.

Rich replied, “‘Can you commit today to ask the governor for a special session to talk about this issue? This is massive. You can’t let the music die, the live music scene die in downtown Nashville.’ He agreed.”

The singer proceeded to get Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) to also agree to a meeting with Gov. Lee.

“He said, ‘Yep. Need to have a special session, ASAP. This is not okay. This is not good. And you’re right, it’s unsustainable. We got to figure something out.’”

Downtown business owner Barrett Hobbs, who attended the meeting alongside Rich, told News 2 that if businesses continue to close, Nashville and the state would be at risk of losing a major source of tax revenue.

“No business can sustain itself. If you’ve got an expenditure that’s $100,000 and then it goes to $600,000 in five months,” Hobbs said. “We can’t just call the city and say, ‘Hey, we weren’t expecting this. Can you give us two years to pay this increase?’ And that’s kind of where we are.” 

Bill Miller, founder and CEO of Icon Entertainment & Hospitality, also told the Business Journal, “It’s not sustainable — business on Broadway is the lowest I’ve seen in all the time we’ve been here… This will absolutely lead to people going out of business. You’re going to have vacant storefronts, and the politicians can say I’m being dramatic, but the politicians don’t balance my books every month.”

Governor Lee has been serving since January 2019, meaning he will finish out his second term in January 2027 and cannot run again due to state term limits. With less than six months left in office, John Rich is urging the state leader to “be a honky tonk hero” and save the live music in downtown Nashville.

“Have that meeting. Answer that call. Have that special session. Bring them all in. The business leaders will show you the math, will show you what’s happening and how unsustainable and crushing it is. It is absolutely brutal what is happening to some of these businesses. Please take that meeting…Please have that session, and please come with a solution. Keep Music City, Music City. We’re counting on you, governor. Be our honky-tonk hero. I know you can do it. All right. God bless you. God bless Tennessee. God bless America,” Rich concluded.