Jeffrey Steele slams industry for promoting Bruce Springsteen, Bad Bunny over his Charlie Kirk song
WASHINGTON, DC: Jeffrey Steele, a Hall of Fame songwriter from Nashville, criticized the music industry for giving more attention to liberal artists like Bad Bunny and Bruce Springsteen while blocking conservative voices like Charlie Kirk.
In an interview with Andrew Kolvet of Turning Point USA, Steele said industry leaders are pushing a political agenda. He pointed to Super Bowl halftime shows as an example, saying they focus more on flashy performances than on faith, morals, or patriotic values.
Steele recently released a song called ‘A Voice,’ which he co-wrote with Chris Wallin and Colin Raye. The song mentions Kirk, but Steele said radio stations refused to play it because of its conservative content, while Springsteen’s politically charged songs are welcomed and promoted.
Jeffrey Steele slams Super Bowl halftime politics
Jeffrey Steele said the music industry is strongly promoting a particular political message. He said, "They’re pushing a narrative as hard as they can. And it started a few years ago with the National Anthem and taking a knee. And the public immediately showed what they thought about that," during an interview with Andrew Kolvet on 'Real America’s Voice' at the 57:00 mark.
Steele argued that those who choose performers for the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime show are not focusing on the millions of Americans who want entertainment that reflects their faith, patriotism, and traditional values.
Speaking about the halftime show, Steele said, "What they want to see on that field is a representation of what America is. And every year this thing gets crazier, more outlandish, less morality, less about faith. Less about country. And I just think there’s quite a few hundred million Americans out there that have just said enough.”
To provide background, Steele has worked in the music industry for nearly 50 years and has built a long and successful career. He wrote popular songs like ‘My Wish’ and ‘What Hurts the Most’ for Rascal Flatts and ‘The Cowboy in Me’ for Tim McGraw.
More recently, he co-wrote Aaron Lewis’ song ‘Am I the Only One?’ which criticized Democrats and reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart even though it received little or no mainstream radio support.
Steele has also written or co-written hit songs for many well-known artists, including Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Eric Church, Miley Cyrus, and Trace Adkins, among others.
Jeffrey Steele calls out the biased music industry
Jeffrey Steele recently released a new song called 'A Voice,' which he wrote with Nashville songwriters Chris Wallin and Colin Raye. The song includes the lyric, “The Charlie Kirk choir all lightin’ our lighters.” Steele said he was told by music industry executives that radio stations would not play the song as long as it mentioned Charlie Kirk.
Steele described the situation as difficult, saying, "To have them push back at me and not help me promote it was a tough thing for a guy that’s been around for 45 years."
He said industry leaders refused to support or promote the song because they viewed it as too conservative. He pointed out that shortly after he released 'A Voice,' "Bruce Springsteen came out with an anthem about Minneapolis. And it’s got anti-Trump and anti-ICE lyrics. And it’s immediately embraced and it goes to number one. And my song? They tell me it’s too right-wing. They can’t play it on the radio. And that’s what we’re up against as a conservative music listener."
He added, "You can’t find the music unless I find a way. I have to creep and crawl to find a way to get it out there to the public that really wants to hear it." Steele said he knew 'A Voice' would connect with people because whenever he performed it live before its release, audiences immediately stood and cheered.
About a week after its release, 'A Voice' reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Digital Sales Country chart. Steele said that even though the situation has been challenging, he plans to keep pushing forward and continue sharing his message with listeners.
