Aaron Lewis has made a dual career in music as the frontman of Staind and as a solo country singer whose message hinges on right-wing political beliefs. But in a new interview, the musician admitted that the record label that markets his solo material doesn’t agree with his conservative message.
Lewis’ solo label is Big Machine Records, the Universal Music-distributed label that made its mark as Taylor Swift’s formative outpost, issuing the now-massive pop star’s earliest works. Big Machine’s founder is Scott Borchetta, also president and CEO of the label and its parent, Big Machine Label Group.
On The Devin Nunes Podcast last week, Lewis discussed his No. 1 hit country song from 2021, the reactionary conservative anthem “Am I the Only One.” He said that the song led people to call for his cancellation, but that Big Machine backed him up — even though Borchetta doesn’t agree.
“There was an all-out call for my cancelation when I put out ‘Am I The Only One,'” Lewis says on the show. “I’m very blessed in the sense that even though my label president Scott Borchetta does not agree with us at all, he believes in the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression, and he’s a president of a record label — that is creativity, that’s freedom of expression.” (via ThePRP)
Lewis continues, “And as much as he does not believe in most of what we think is truth, he still stood behind me and would not answer the call to cancel me and has actually been a very strong supporter of my right to be able to say what I believe.”
READ MORE: Aaron Lewis Spells Out ‘Trump 2024’ With 32 Dead Coyotes, Fans Disturbed
The singer adds of Borchetta, “I’m very lucky, and he knows how much I appreciate him.”
Of course, “Am I the Only One” wasn’t the first time that Lewis wrote a song with politically charged lyrics. His solo work had been leaning that way for years, and in 2020, he debuted the song “If I Was a Liberal” live. It’s a highly politicized version of his own State I’m In song “If I Were the Devil.”
Aaron Lewis on The Devin Nunes Podcast – Jan. 19, 2024
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