Country music no longer owns the troops, and that’s a good thing

For decades, country music positioned itself as the unofficial soundtrack of the American military. From Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” at every base ceremony, the genre tied itself to patriotism and uniformed service.

The connection was so strong that country stars frequently headlined USO tours or appeared at military appreciation nights. However, as time has gone on, the monopoly that country music once held over the troops has faded — and that may be one of the healthier cultural shifts the military has seen in recent years.

Country music has not vanished from the ranks. It still plays in barracks rooms and fills jukeboxes in bars just outside posts. According to Billboard, country artists like Morgan Wallen remain one of the most-streamed artists in the United States, and his fan base includes plenty of service members.

What has changed is that the genre no longer defines the military experience. Troops today are just as likely to share playlists filled with hip-hop, EDM, or K-pop as they are with country music legends like George Strait or Garth Brooks.

This reflects generational change. As of 2023, nearly half of service members are 25 years or younger. That places most troops in Gen Z or younger Millennials, groups raised on Spotify algorithms rather than regional radio stations. In 2003, when the Iraq invasion began, iPods were just becoming popular.

Today’s service members have never known a world without streaming platforms that tailor playlists to every possible niche.

The cultural environment has also shifted. Twenty years ago, country music’s dominance coincided with the post-9/11 era of patriotism. Songs like Keith’s and Greenwood’s became rallying cries for both service members and civilians eager to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A 2003 Gallup poll found that 70% of Americans approved of the invasion of Iraq. That support created fertile ground for artists who wrapped their music in flag imagery.

However, as the wars dragged on, enthusiasm waned. By the mid-2010s, skepticism about endless deployments was on the rise, and surveys from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs showed growing fatigue with military interventions abroad. The cultural monopoly of country music, tied so closely to those wars, began to feel outdated. Younger troops increasingly associated patriotic anthems with hollow cheerleading disconnected from their experiences.

Political polarization also played a role. Country music’s most visible stars leaned heavily into conservative messaging. From Jason Aldean’s controversial “Try That in a Small Town” to Kid Rock’s campaigning for President Donald Trump, the genre became closely linked with one side of the spectrum. For many service members, who come from diverse backgrounds, that narrowing of identity made it less appealing as a universal cultural marker.

Other genres quickly filled the gap. Hip hop, once seen as countercultural, is now one of the most popular forms of music in uniform. Artists like Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Travis Scott dominate playlists. EDM festivals and pop acts such as Taylor Swift and BTS — and even heavy metal — all command loyal followings.

There is a practical upside. A military defined by one genre of anything risks flattening the experiences of its members.

For years, country music reinforced stereotypes of the force as exclusively rural, conservative and Southern. It erased the reality that many troops come from urban centers, immigrant families and communities that never saw themselves reflected in Nashville. Their cultural tastes were always broader than the country music monopoly suggested.

For older veterans, the change can be jarring. Retired NCOs often recall deployments where USO shows featured cowboy hats on stage, and ceremonies concluded with the same patriotic songs. But for today’s troops, music is personal and pluralistic. They share Spotify links across continents, create squad-specific playlists and swap tracks that speak to the boredom, stress and camaraderie that define modern deployments.

That pluralism says something important about the military’s future. The services no longer need a single genre to unify their identity. If anything, the disappearance of the country’s monopoly reflects a healthier culture where troops can embrace diversity without feeling pressured to conform to one soundtrack.

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The bond between country music and the military was real, and for some troops, it still carries meaning. But its decline as the singular voice of the force is not a loss. It is recognition that service members are more than one culture, more than one background, and more than one kind of playlist. The next time a deployment rotation boards a plane, the odds are high that the earbuds under helmets will be filled with sounds that have nothing to do with dusty country roads. And that, finally, is a good thing.