Luke Bryan Discusses Women's Struggles To Gain Traction In Country Field: 'It's Always Been Pretty Damn Crummy'

Luke Bryan admitted in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that "it sucks" for women in the country music genre right now. Although this isn't quite as liberating as hearing Jay Z declare that "women is pimps too," Bryan is currently at the top of the country game (and the music game in general, having topped the Billboard 200 for two straight weeks with his album "Crash My Party") and perhaps in a position to do something about it.

Weekly sprung the question on Bryan, pointing out that only six of the top 25 country songs at the moment are helmed by women, and also noting that it's been more than six years since a solo female performer has gotten two singles in the Top 10 off her debut album (and that was Taylor Swift). Moral: it's tough for a woman to break into the business.

"I think historically it's always been that way a little bit," Bryan said. "It feels like now is the toughest time ever for women, but I would imagine it's always been pretty damn crummy."

Unfortunately, he didn't seem to think there was an obvious solution either.

"I do think it sucks, but I don't know what I can do," he said. "I mean, it's a weird phenomenon. What's funny is that the majority of listeners are females, but then you'd feel like they would want to hear women too. I guess I didn't give you at all an answer, but I just feel like I don't know what can be done to solve it."

Bryan has at least done a little by acknowledging the problem. For our readers that are concerned and want to look for more female country artists, there are a number of acclaimed albums that have been released this year from artists including Kasey Musgraves and the Pistol Annies. Of course, Carrie Underwood isn't a small name, and she still struggles to keep up with performers like Bryan and Florida Georgia Line, the producers of what some critics refer to as "bro country."

No offense to Bryan for doing what he does best, but make sure to spread the love and listens around gender lines.

Tags

Luke Bryan, Crash My Party, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Kacey Musgraves