Kacey Musgraves Explains Why She Won’t Hold Back From Speaking Her Mind: ‘Not Everyone Has to Like Me’

Kacey Musgraves knows that being authentic to herself and standing behind what she believes in may not always sit well with everyone, but she has learned to be okay with that.

The country star recently joined Cody Alan for a conversation on Sirius XM, where she thought back to some of the female icons in country music and how their legacies have impacted her.

Musgraves specifically highlighted the late country music legends Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn. While both women are widely celebrated today, she pointed out that they were once boundary-pushers who weren’t afraid to speak their minds, even when doing so meant “pissing a lot of people off.” To Musgraves, their actions are proof that women in the industry don’t have to fit into one mold. They can be successful businesswomen, glamorous and unapologetically confident in who they are.

“I think it’s just a testament that you as a woman can be multifaceted and multidimensional. You can have a wonderful business and be extremely intelligent in that way. You can be funny, you can make jokes about your body, you can have a body and show it off and you can be glam and all that. I really admire that,” she noted.

Cody Alan also noted that Musgraves has followed in their footsteps, describing Parton as a “badass woman at every turn” and saying he sees that same quality in Musgraves. When asked if she believes her willingness to speak openly about certain topics has rubbed people the wrong way, Musgraves confidently stated that she has learned not to let that hold her back from being her most authentic self.

“I’m well aware that I have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way probably, but that’s okay with me. I’m fine with that. Not everyone has to like me,” she admits. “And even if I do rub somebody wrong, the things that I choose to either stand up for or write about are coming from my heart and I do mean well with them, whether they come out totally right all the time or not.”

As Musgraves continues to move throughout her own career, she hopes to carry forward plenty of other important lessons that she learned from watching Parton’s actions, including her generosity and dedication to helping others.

“Just seeing how she always did so much good for other people, I think that inspires me to want to be better and to be more giving. I think she made it very obvious where her heart stood in terms of important matters and standing up for the underdog and whether it was children’s literacy or employing thousands of people in her hometown or just all the many ways that she gave back…just really putting your money where your mouth is and walking the walk, not necessarily talking the talk, but she walked it. And I just think that there’s always more kindness to spread in this crazy world,” Musgraves added.

During her conversation with Alan, the two of them also spoke about her latest album, Middle of Nowhere, moments of inspiration that struck her throughout the creative process and she teased that she is already working on another project that she is “really excited about.”