Country Star John Rich Blasts Nashville Mayor Over Botched Ice Storm Response

Rich says the city's power outages and lack of preparedness are a result of the mayor's policies.

Jan. 30, 2026 at 12:23pm

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Country music artist John Rich criticized the response of Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell to a severe ice storm that left over 80,000 homes without power for six days. Rich said the mayor's decision to cut $7.5 million from the budget for tree trimming last year contributed to widespread damage from fallen trees, and accused the mayor of failing to provide leadership during the crisis by refusing to do interviews or press conferences as temperatures dropped to single digits.

Why it matters

The extended power outages and lack of preparedness have put many Nashville residents in serious danger, especially with dangerously cold temperatures arriving. Rich's criticism highlights growing political tensions in the city over the mayor's handling of the emergency response.

The details

According to Rich, the power outages are largely confined to Davidson County, where Nashville is located, while surrounding counties are faring much better. He says the Nashville Electric Service CEO cut $7.5 million from the budget for tree trimming last year, leading to widespread tree damage from the ice storm that has downed power lines. Rich also called out Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell, a self-described "hardcore leftist," for refusing to do any media interviews or press conferences over the weekend as temperatures dropped to 4-5 degrees Fahrenheit.

  • The ice storm hit the Nashville area on January 24, 2026.
  • Over 80,000 homes in Davidson County have been without power for six days as of January 30, 2026.

The players

John Rich

A country music artist who is criticizing the Nashville mayor's response to the ice storm.

Freddie O'Connell

The mayor of Nashville, who Rich describes as a "hardcore leftist" and accuses of failing to provide leadership during the crisis.

Theresa Boyles

The CEO of Nashville Electric Service, who Rich says cut $7.5 million from the budget for tree trimming last year, contributing to the power outages.

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What they’re saying

“It is 80,000, 90,000 houses. So it's a lot more than 80,000 people. And what's what's really interesting is it's it's pretty much localized to Davidson County, which is the county Nashville resides. And all the counties around Davidson County are doing much better than Davidson County.”

— John Rich, Country Music Artist

“We found out Nashville Electric Service, their CEO Theresa Boyles last year, cut $7.5 million out of the budget to trim the trees. So Tennessee covered in trees. I know you come here a lot. And so instead of any us trimming our trees, God decided to trim our trees with an ice storm. And so now you have trees laying all over the place.”

— John Rich, Country Music Artist

“I want to give a shout out to our linemen because they're not the problem. They're out doing everything they can. Yeah, they got to get the trees up and then they got to get the lines back up. The trees are the big issue.”

— John Rich, Country Music Artist

“We have a mayor here in Nashville. Hard core leftist guy Freddie O'Connell, and they've decided they're not going to do any interviews or any press conferences through the weekend Dana, as the temperatures go down to four and five degrees here in Nashville.”

— John Rich, Country Music Artist

“I said, well, you get what you vote for here in Nashville. Maybe next time you guys put some people in office that actually think ahead and don't raise your taxes by 40% and then can't cut the trees.”

— John Rich, Country Music Artist

What’s next

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The takeaway

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