Zach Bryan arrested just days after topping Billboard Hot 100
Bryan has issued an apology to Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers, writing, "Emotions got the best of me and I was out of line in the things I said"
Country music star Zach Bryant is having what could comfortably be termed a “noteworthy” week at this point: Back on Tuesday, Bryan had his first No. 1 debut on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, in the form of his new track with Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything.” But that big high has now been met with a bit of a low, as well, as TMZ reports this evening that Bryan was arrested in Oklahoma in the midst of as-yet unclear circumstances. (He’s apparently been booked on a charge of “obstructing an investigation,” and was arrested in Vinita, OK, a town of just a smidge more than 5,000 people.)
Again, it’s the timing that’s interesting here, as much as anything else: Former Navy man Bryan has been on a lightning upward trajectory for the last six years, ever since his YouTube-posted songs first started going viral in 2017, quickly scoring him a career as a full-time musician. In that time, each of his four studio albums has done better than the last, culminating two weeks ago in the release of his self-titled Zach Bryan, which has been dominating charts and album sales ever since. He is, in other words, almost certainly about to make that critical transition from “guy that people who think about music a lot know about” to “guy that everybody knows about,” with this arrest, depending on how things go, potentially being a speedbump for, or at least an element of, that narrative..
Bryan is currently in-between tours at the moment, having just ended his most recent “Burn, Burn, Burn,” on August 30. He’s currently scheduled for a number of festival dates to end 2023 on, before hitting the road again in support of Zach Bryan—not that the album necessarily needs it, at this point—next March.
Update, 10:01 p.m.: Bryan has now issued a statement about the arrest on Twitter tonight, writing that, “Today I had an incident with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Emotions got the best of me and I was out of line in the things I said.
I support law enforcement as much as anyone can, I was just frustrated in the moment, it was unlike me and I apologize. They brought me to jail, and there is a mug shot of me floating around.
Prayers we can all move on from this and prayers people know I’m just trying the best I can, I love you guys and I am truly sorry to the officers.”