UPDATE 1/27 3 p.m. ET — Chris Young has been cleared of assault charges following his arrest in Nashville.
“Regarding the Chris Young incident – After a review of all the evidence in this case, the Office of the District Attorney has determined that these charges will be dismissed,” Nashville’s District Attorney, Glenn Funk, says in a statement shared with Us Weekly.
Young’s attorney, Bill Ramsey, noted in his own statement that the musician was relieved that the charges had been dismissed. “Mr. Young and I are gratified with the DA’s decision clearing him of the charges and any wrongdoing,” Ramsey tells Us.
Original story continues below:
Country singer Chris Young has been arrested in Nashville.
Young, 38, was booked into the Nashville Metro jail on Monday, January 22, and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assault of an officer, Us Weekly can confirm. He was released on Tuesday, January 23, and is scheduled to appear in court on February 16.
The alleged incident took place after Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) agents walked into a bar on Demonbreun Street to complete a compliance check. Young was present, and allegedly began questioning the agents and recording video of them, according to court documents obtained by ABC news affiliate WKRN.
The agents then left and walked to a different establishment to perform another compliance check. When they went to leave, Young allegedly put his hands out to stop the agents from leaving the bar. One TABC agent claimed that Young then “struck” him on the shoulder and began “yelling and screaming.”
Us has reached out to Young for comment.
Nick Beres, a reporter for Nashville’s News Channel 5, obtained surveillance footage of the incident.
In the clip, which Beres shared via Facebook on Tuesday, Young can be seen waiting to talk to the TABC agents. When the agents passed by, Young reached his hand out to stop them. One of the agents then shoved Young, who stumbled and fell to the ground. Young then got to his feet and backed away from the agent with his hands in front of him.
“According to Young’s lawyer all his client wanted to do was to confirm the identity of the men — who were not in obvious uniforms … and ask about the photo of his ID,” Beres wrote in the clip’s caption.
Young’s lawyer, Bill Ramsey, denied the allegations against his client in a statement shared with Us Weekly on Wednesday, January 24.
“What happened to my client Chris Young at a bar in Nashville on Monday night was wrong and he never should have been arrested and charged in the first place,” Ramsey said. “In light of the video evidence, Tennessee ABC needs to drop the charges and apologize for the physical, emotional and professional harm done towards my client.”
Young rose to prominence after winning season 4 of the USA singing competition Nashville Star in 2006. After his victory, he was signed to RCA Records Nashville and has released eight studio albums to date. Earlier this month, he announced his next record, Young Love & Saturday Nights, which is set to be released on March 22.
“It’s time. I’ve put a lot into this next one and I cannot wait for y’all to hear it,” he wrote via Instagram on January 12.
During an interview with the website RoughStock earlier this month, Young said the album is “a little louder [and] a little more raw” than his past releases.
“Even the stripped-down songs are heavier,” he said. “I love creating music and I love making it and the fact that I get to do that for a living is a pretty incredible thing.”
Before announcing his new album, Young released a single of the same name in July 2023. David Bowie is credited as one of the songwriters as the track borrows a guitar riff from the late musician’s 1974 single “Rebel Rebel.”
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“There are a lot of songs where people use something as a sample or have exactly the same melody or lyric. This is different,” Young told Rolling Stone in July 2023 of Bowie’s influence on the tune. “This is creating something new, with a nod to something that pre-existed. And if you get the reference, it just made the song even cooler for you. Just to have a song that has David Bowie listed as a songwriter is amazing.”
Some of Young’s other recognizable songs include “Gettin’ You Home,” “The Man I Want to Be” and his 2020 collaboration with Kane Brown, “Famous Friends.”
