Meet the rising country star fans love to hate, who has been embroiled in bitter feuds with everyone from bad boy rival Zach Bryan to global superstar Beyoncé.
Gavin Adcock, 27, has been releasing music since 2021, but has only recently become a name to know… although it’s not because of his friend-coded country songs or the fact that fans love to throw beers into the crowd at his concerts.
The Georgia singer has been making headlines for his fierce feuds with other country artists, including Bryan, with whom he almost came to blows. He also angered fans when he called out Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album, saying, “You can tell her we’re coming for her, f**king!”
Despite the controversies, Adcock’s star is on the rise. In October, he appeared on Bunnie XO’s Dumb Blonde podcast to discuss his unconventional approach to fame in an episode about why he’s not backing down.
Adcock told Bunnie, who is married to country singer Jelly Roll, that he likes to “speak up and say what’s on his mind,” which has become part of his personal brand.
Despite the success of his album, he has had run-ins with the law and remains at the center of controversy, whether facing arrest or one of his national rivals at a festival.
Now the Daily Mail can exclusively reveal the truth behind his most notable feud with Bryan – and how he really feels about their most recent altercation.
Gavin Adcock (pictured) spent the night in South Carolina’s Oconee County Jail after being handcuffed on Interstate 40 for allegedly violating the open container law and reckless driving.
Adcock (left) is famous for his shot beers at his concerts, and his fans love throwing beers into the crowd at his concerts.
Adcock is no stranger to notoriety. He first gained notoriety as a college football player when a viral video showed him standing on a moving school bus, drinking beer before a game at Georgia Southern University. He was then cut from the team in 2021 for his irresponsible antics.
Adcock, who grew up on his family’s cattle farm, released the aptly titled Own Worst Enemy album in August, which was a hit with country fans. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and a whole host of songs went gold and platinum.
Last May, Adcock spent the night in a Tennessee jail after being arrested for reckless driving and violating the open container law. Adcock was released and the charges were later dismissed, leading him to make light of the arrest with the song Morning Bail, where he sings about waking up with a handcuff-related bruise and drinking Folgers with the boys in blue before joking about taking his picture.
Country singers have a long history of legal skirmishes, including Bryan, who mocked his own arrest by putting his photo on the cover of his Spotify playlist called Outlaw. The case was later dismissed after Bryan entered into a deferred prosecution agreement.
The two singers nearly came to blows on September 13 when they both performed at the Born and Raised Festival in Pryor, Oklahoma, after warming up on opposite sides of a chain-link fence.
Today, the Daily Mail learned from someone close to the two singers how they each felt about this highly publicized altercation.
The source said Bryan thinks “Gavin is part of you know what” and “hates him.”
“If they ever find themselves in the same place in the same place, there will be some fisticuffs,” the source said, adding that Bryan “is an arrogant tough guy who always believes he’s right, so if anyone is against him, he’ll hear it.”
The insider also said that Adcock “isn’t the only person who has issues with Zach, and most people in rural who care about this feud are on Gavin’s side because Zach has continually been on the drama side.”
The source said Bryan had to apologize for a tweet about Taylor Swift and had been constantly involved in conflict over his ex-girlfriend Brianna ‘Chickenfry’ LaPaglia.
Issues between Adcock and Bryan came to a head after a video of the incident – where Bryan is heard saying: “Hey, do you want to fight like a man?” before climbing the fence – went viral. Bryan can be seen being restrained while security takes Adcock away.
Adcock then posted an Instagram video targeting Bryan and called him “Sack Cryin.” Adcock said he didn’t think Bryan, 29, was “a very good person” and accused him of saying “asshole things.”
Adcock explained that he refused to fight because he was ready to go on stage and “no artist who cares about his fans will fight right before his set, failing to continue and disappointing the fans who spent way too much money to be there.”
Adcock shared the footage on Instagram with the caption: “When you get death threats from Sack Cryin before he makes headlines in his hometown” (Pictured: Adcock with his back to the camera, Bryan on the other side of the fence)
As Bryan fell over the fence, he rushed towards his rival. But a security guard moved quickly and caught him before things got physical.
Adcock (seen in May) added fuel to the fire by publishing his own version of the confrontation at the fence
“I wasn’t even angry, I didn’t even have a single reason to fight him,” Adcock continued. “I’m just an adult, and fighting him would only mean going to jail, missing my set and getting into a lawsuit against Zach Bryan.”
Adcock ended the video by saying, “I will pray that he gets better because he definitely needs it.”
Their confrontation had been going on for a few months, as they first started arguing in July.
Adcock called Bryan after an incident with a 14-year-old fan who was disappointed that he didn’t get Bryan’s autograph after waiting hours to meet him.
Bryan responded to the young fan by saying, “You don’t get, after someone has played for two and a half hours, a photo or a hello,” accompanied by the racy acronym “GOMD” (known to mean: get off my shit).
Adcock disapproved of the comment and went to X to air his grievances.
“If you can’t take criticism from a 14 year old, why do people idolize you? This kid was crazy to meet you and spent/the parents spent a ton of money to see you.
‘He has the feeling[s] also and you are a “grown man” of almost 30 years old. That’s the only reason you’re here,” he wrote.
This week, Adcock commented on Bryan’s post about his sobriety and said, “We all know when he made that decision,” before quickly deleting the comment.
Adcock also clashed with Charley Crockett, who disapproved of Adcock’s comments on Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning album Cowboy Carter.
Adcock unleashed a profanity-laced tirade against Beyoncé during her June 2025 concert, which appeared to be motivated by her album Cowboy Carter, which ranked higher on Apple Music’s Country chart than her debut.
Adcock spoke about the rankings and said: “One of them is Beyoncé – you can tell her we’re coming for her, f***ing a**!”
“It’s not country music and it’s never been country music, and it won’t be country music,” he continued, raising a bottle of liquor to the crowd.
Crockett, 41, came to Beyoncé’s defense.
In an Aug. 19 Instagram post, Crockett, who is of Black, Cajun, Creole and Jewish ancestry, wrote: “Hey country folks. @beyonce is not the source of your discontent. It was 25 years of country bro.
Although Crockett never named Adcock, he said, “I don’t need to demean a black woman to advance my music.” It’s just embarrassing to the idea of America and I have no respect for it.
Adcock thought it was a dig and called Crockett a “cosplay cowboy” in return. While opening a show for Morgan Wallen, he held up a Crockett shirt while Wallen raised two middle fingers.
On Adcock’s single On One (pictured), he sings: “I didn’t catch the bottle, yeah, the bottle caught me / I’ll ride that train till the sun starts to go down / I’ve got the woman of the night to hold on to my hip / I’ve got Miller in her hand and a smoke on her lips”
Adcock (pictured) released Own Worst Enemy in August and it was a hit with country fans.
It’s not just country stars who are victims of his wrath. In July, Adcock got into a heated exchange with a Nickelback sound technician during Rock the Country Festival in Anderson, South Carolina.
The argument came to a head after the technician and Adcock’s father got into a fight during the country singer’s set and it was all captured on video, which was posted to TikTok and went viral.
Adcock was caught saying: “Hey mate, you’re going to lose your f***ing job, you stupid a** tramp, you better get the fuck out there.”
Adcock defended his behavior in a video and said: “I see him and they’re about to grab my dad, and I just ran into the alley and told them ‘No, you’re not kicking me out, he’s the one causing trouble’, so security grabbed him, took him away, that’s all.”
Through it all, his influencer girlfriend Haley Larkin, 23, has stayed by his side, posting loved-up photos with the controversial singer.
Larkin captioned a series of snaps: “Home is wherever you are,” to which Adcock simply replied: “Darlin’.”
The Daily Mail contacted representatives for Adcock and Bryan for comment, but did not receive a response.
