Brantley Gilbert, Toby Keith and Hardy Team for ‘The Worst Country Song’

Check out this laugh-out-loud jam!

Written by Chris Parton
Brantley Gilbert, Toby Keith and Hardy Team for ‘The Worst Country Song’
Toby Keith, Photo credit: Richard McLaren; Brantley Gilbert, Photo credit: Jeff Nelson; HARDY, Photo credit: Tanner Gallagher

Brantley Gilbert, Toby Keith and Hardy team up for a track with a sense of humor today (June 18), dropping the laugh-out-loud collab, “The Worst Country Song of All Time.”

Marking Gilbert’s new country-radio single and full of sarcastic fun, the track brings together three stars who know some things about what makes a good country song — and what doesn’t.

Rowdy electric guitars, a rollicking, sing-along chorus and a can’t-help-but-smile theme all combine on the track, which Gilbert says happened by all-natural accident. He and co-writers Hardy, Hunter Phelps and Will Weatherly started writing the anti-country anthem for the lulz, but when it was done, Gilbert couldn’t resist releasing it.

“HARDY threw the idea on the table, and he said, ‘Guys, I know this is crazy, but I had a title I put down in my phone: ‘The Worst Country Song of All Time,’” Gilbert explains. “We all laughed it off because obviously it was a joke. Then we all were throwing out lines we thought were funny. The next thing you know, we’ve got this song written, and the rest is history in the making.”

“And it goes I hate beer and honky-tonk women / I don’t eat deer and I can’t stand fishing / And I don’t know the words to Family Tradition / Folsom Prison or Walk The Line / And I think sweet tea is overrated / And all dirt roads were made for paving / Yeah, this is worst country song of all time,” goes the hilarious chorus.

Gilbert went on to ask Hardy and Toby Keith to join in the fun, enlisting Keith’s “final seal of approval” as an artist with plenty of country-comedy experience. Keith has had success with lighthearted hits like “Red Solo Cup” in the past, while Hardy is coming off his first Number One as an artist with “One Beer” (featuring Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson). The tunesmith has also co-penned CMA Award winning standouts like “God’s Country” for Blake Shelton, among others.

“The Worst Country Song of All Time” follows the release of Gilbert’s Fire & Brimstone (Deluxe Edition), and the Georgia native plans to share more new music as 2021 rolls on.

Earlier this year, Brantley Gilbert held his inaugural trail ride with partners including Polaris, Gander Outdoors, Camping World, Brimstone® Recreation, Traeger Grills, Whiskey Jam and Appalachia Made Co., raising $75,000 to benefit ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund to support those in the entertainment industry who lost work due to the pandemic.