Maren Morris Reveals Why She's Leaving Country Music

Maren Morris isn't looking to meet anyone in the middle when it comes to leaving country music.

A month after the "My Church" singer announced her exit from the genre, she is now delving into what led to her decision.

"I love living in Nashville, I have my family," Maren said during the Oct. 4 episode of The New York Times' Popcast podcast, per People. "There's a reason why people come there from L.A. and New York to write with us. It's because we have amazing songwriters there. That's not gonna change."

However, the "Girl" artist—who publicly called out Jason Aldean's wife Brittany over alleged transphobia last year—confessed that she could no longer defend certain actions in the country music scene.

"I couldn't do this circus anymore—feeling like l have to absorb and explain people's bad behaviors and laugh it off," she admitted. "I just couldn't do that after 2020 particularly. I've changed. A lot of things changed about me that year."

photosMaren Morris' Best Looks

But fans shouldn't fret, because the Grammy winner isn't going far. Maren explained that she isn't leaving the music industry all together, but instead is doing her own thing from now on.

As for what that looks like? Well, Maren confessed she asked for her music to no longer be considered at country music award shows, adding to fans, "Come with me if you please. Everyone's welcomed."

Back in September, Maren first shared the news of her choice to step back from her craft, due to not feeling as connected to the country crowd.

"The stories going on within country music right now, I've tried to avoid a lot of it at all costs. I feel very, very distanced from it," she told the Los Angeles Times. "I had to take a step back. The way I grew up was so wrapped in country music, and the way I write songs is very lyrically structured in the Nashville way of doing things."

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Clarifying that she wants to continue to record songs, Maren explained, "But I think I needed to purposely focus on just making good music and not so much on how we'll market it. A lot of the drama within the community, I've chosen to step outside out of it."

In fact, she just released a two-song project titled The Bridge Sept. 15. Giving a glimpse into part one called "The Tree," Maren wrote on Instagram in part, "Wrote this on the 10 year anniversary of my moving to Nashville. It's about a toxic 'family tree' burning itself to the ground." 

Meanwhile, part two, dubbed "Get the Hell Out of Here," is all about "the aftermath of the tree burning. Being quite literally burned out, this is a story of me feeling pulled in every direction, needing everyone else's understanding and acceptance but my own and how self-destructive that ultimately became."

Leaving her followers with words of encouragement, Maren shared, "Doing the right thing can feel lonely at times, but there are more friends than foes, so I finally quit making myself one of them."

One of those friends just might be Cassadee Pope, who along with Maren slammed Brittany Aldean last summer while defending trans rights. For a total recap of their feud, keep scrolling…