Jason Aldean’s wife Brittany calls Billboard for playing politics after the publication failed to include him on its recent staff-compiled list of the greatest country singers of all time.

In an Instagram Stories slide, Brittany theorizes as much Billboard Aldean deliberately excluded from the list due to his conservative political beliefs.

She notes that this is just one example of the industry setbacks she and her country star husband have faced due to their political views and public support of newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Remember when I said it’s been a journey of standing up for what we believe in?” Brittany writes.

“This is a prime example of Jason being kept out of the industry,” the singer’s wife continued. “(Billboard) Your wokeness clearly takes precedence over your ability to give credit where it’s due, and that’s sad.”

• The Aldeans have been openly speaking about their political leanings for some time, and have become increasingly vocal in recent years.
• In 2022, Brittany and Maren Morris became embroiled in a heated social media feud over trans rights and gender-affirming care for teens. Brittany then showed up Tucker Carlson tonight to explain her position.
• The couple have supported Trump’s candidacy for the US presidency in 2024, meeting him several times and considering him a personal friend.
• Aldean performed at the Republican National Convention and spoke at a Trump rally in Georgia.
• The singer’s conservatism is reflected in his music; in particular, his song “Try That in a Small Town” espouses conservative, traditional social values. That song was widely criticized upon its release in 2023, with many listeners calling it racist dog whistling and a glorification of gun-based vigilante justice.

Brittany’s Instagram Story included a link to a post shared by Tully Kennedy, Aldean’s bassist and one of the writers behind “Try That in a Small Town.”

Kennedy seemed to take offense too Billboard which left Aldean off the Top 100 list, and also seemed to think the exclusion had to do with the singer’s political views.

“I don’t know what’s funnier (Billboard) … How ridiculous this makes you seem or the fact that you think it would bother us,” he wrote in the caption of his post. “Thank you for making that chip on our shoulder just a little bit bigger.”

Aldean has not addressed the matter on his own social media, but he did respond to Kennedy’s post with a “100” emoji.

BillboardThe list of the 100 Greatest Country Singers of All Time includes legends like Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, as well as more modern stars like Luke Combs and Eric Church.

Two of Aldean’s closest contemporaries – Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton – come in at No. 96 and No. 73, respectively.

However, the list does include some singers who have publicly espoused conservative political views: Hank Williams Jr. and Toby Keith are both on the list.