Country Musician Chris Young Gets Arrested

(USNewsBreak.com) – Most people know Nashville, Tennessee, as the home of the Grand Ole Opry House and the capital of country music. Many singers record there and call the city home, at least sometimes. They even open up businesses and contribute to its thriving nightlife. That nightlife can get people into trouble — even country music stars themselves, as Chris Young recently found out.

Young was out on the town drinking with his friends, just a short distance from the city’s famed Broadway district, where shops and bars line the street. At the Music City’s legendary Tin Roof, he encountered Tennessee Alcohol Beverage Commission (TABC) agents doing routine checks of people’s IDs to ensure they met the legal drinking age. Young began filming the officers and followed them to another bar, DawgHouse Saloon. It was then that the famous singer tried to prevent one of the agents, Joseph T Phillips, from leaving, according to the arrest affidavit.

Country music star Chris Young was arrested Monday night on charges including assault of an officer in a run-in with law enforcement at a bar in Nashville, Tennessee, according to court documents and jail information. https://t.co/SsLByJTYDo

— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 24, 2024

Phillips said he pushed Young back to create some distance between the two after the singer put a hand on the agent’s shoulder. That interaction reportedly caused Young to fall, according to footage reviewed by The New York Times, and sparked a melee, where patrons of the establishment began interfering and yelling at the TABC agents. Two agents arrested Young, who agents reported had bloodshot, watery eyes and was slurring his words, classic signs of intoxication.

The TABC agents charged the country music star with assaulting an officer, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. Young paid $2,500 and bonded out. He is due to appear back in court on February 16.

Bill Ramsey, Young’s attorney, emailed a statement and said the singer “never should have been arrested and charged in the first place.” He demanded that the TABC drop the charges and “apologize for the physical, emotional and professional harm done” to the singer.