The 9513.com had a great Year in Review article posted a few days ago. They listed the Top 20 Music News Stories of 2008. The #2 and #3 pick of the year was John Rich. It made me laugh – they picked their best John Rich moments of the year.
- March 11: John Rich unleashes Gone Country Season 1 winner Julio Iglesias Jr.’s John Rich-produced country single “The Way I Want You.”
- March 24: John Rich announces that John Rich will host the Get Rich talent search.
- May 5: John Rich is infuriated by American Idol because it’s not as good as Nashville Star.
- May 6: John Rich begins another season as host of Gone Country, the CMT “reality” show where people you don’t care about sing songs you never want to hear.
- June 16: John Rich has a moment of clarity in which he (correctly) tells “Underwear Boy” Justin Gaston that he doesn’t belong on a country talent competition. John Rich fails to see any irony in this statement.
- July 26: John Rich is reportedly asked to leave a number of Nashville honky-tonks after trying (repeatedly) to bring in an underage woman.
- October 17: John Rich is involved in a brawl with former Danzig bassist Jerry Montano. Sources for TMZ claim that Rich got into an argument with “two tattooed, large gentlemen,” when things escalated and he swung a beer bottle at Montano, hitting him in the face, supposedly breaking his nose. Following the clash, Montano repeatedly mumbled, “the little guy hit me.”
- November 13: John Rich gets sued by Jerry Montano for smashing Jerry Montano’s nose on October 17. The suit alleges that Rich intentionally hit Montano after realizing that one of his female friends “was only interested in talking to him and nothing else.”
- November 17: John Rich releases solo single, thinks it’s really good.
- December 11: John Rich sets fire to guitar on stage in Vegas using a bottle of rum and matches.
The #2 story was a bad step that I agree John Rich made this year. John Rich speaking on behalf of Johnny Cash.
John Rich may have penned the John McCain theme song “Raising McCain,” but it was Rich’s comments about another John that caused a firestorm. “I’m sure Johnny Cash would have been a John McCain supporter if he was still around,” Rich told an audience at a Florida concert in August.
Rosanne Cash, the late icon’s daughter, fired back: “It is appalling to me that people still want to invoke my father’s name, five years after his death, to ascribe beliefs, ideals, values and loyalties to him that cannot possibly be determined and to try to further their own agendas by doing so. Even I would not presume to say publicly what I ‘know’ he thought or felt. This is especially dangerous in the case of political affiliation. It is unfair and presumptuous to use him to bolster any platform.”
What a year for John Rich. If it weren’t for him we would have had little to nothing to talk about in 2008. Now obviously the 9513 doesn’t feel the same about John Rich as I do. I really do like John Rich. I think he is talented and when I had the chance to meet him he was really a sweetheart.
He does go a bit overboard sometimes with his antics but I think that is just who he is. He is over the top. That is one of the reasons I like him so much.
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Yes Country Girl…we know why you like the rough and tumble John Rich (wink wink). Oh, have you heard his stuff on the radio? I believe I actually liked the acoustic version better when we heard it at the dierks concert.
I think John Rich is a bigot and a hypocritical gasbag. The Tennessean caught Nashville Star casting for a pretty boy after the auditions took place, and lo and behold, we ended up with Justin Gaston. For someone who goes on and on about the integrity of country music he sure doesn’t seem to give a rip about it in the shows he does.
His solo songs aren’t well written and they show a guy who’s out of ideas. I especially dislike that one song that panders to patriotism but has the same kneejerk “disagree with me and you don’t love your country” vibe that John Rich gives off. He hasn’t written or cowritten a good song in years. IMO he’s stretched himself too thin.
Wow blueblood tell us how you really feel about John Rich. LOL I know a lot of people who feel the exact same way about him that you do. As far as casting for a pretty boy – Justin didn’t win. He didn’t even get to the finals. I have to agree that John Rich may need to take a break in the reality show department. No one from Nashville Star or Gone Country has gone on to hit it “big” as they hope for. I think people are sick of seeing John but hey – even bad publicity is publicity. If people are talking about you – you must be interesting to say the least.
“I think people are sick of seeing John but hey – even bad publicity is publicity. If people are talking about you – you must be interesting to say the least.”
I disagree with the idea that you must be interesting if people are talking about you. That’s the attitude of some celebrities and talking heads on TV and radio. But IMO what’s really happening is that if you exhibit enough attention-seeking behavior, you’ll get coverage and people will talk whether you’re interesting or not. It’s a sad commentary on the media and society.
People talk about Jessica Simpson, but does that make her interesting? IMO no. I think people talk about Jessica Simpson because her career is a mess and people think it’s funny to watch her keep trying and failing. It’s mean but I think people get a kick out of seeing someone who’s not that talented but still obviously desperate for attention and respect fall flat on her face.
It’s not exactly the same thing with John Rich except that he’s constantly calling attention to himself. IMO it’s easy to ignore one or two things that a person does but after a while there’s an accumulated effect that’s bound to draw a response. I mostly try to ignore John Rich because IMO he’s all about posturing and I’d rather not be part of the group that feeds his cravings for attention. But I’m not perfect and he’s said and done some things that IMO are morally objectionable. Those things should be called out.
For someone who just got married, John sure is connected to alot of other girls. Does anyone know if it is all just hearsay? Or is he really a cheater?
From what I have heard, he has kissing contests at bars and brings girls on his bus after his shows. It could be rumors, but you don’t hear rumors for no reason. It sounds like John was a BAD boyfriend and will probably be a worse husband. I don’t think the marriage will last.