Eric Church Has Garth Brooks Issues

Eric Church was bummed about not winning the 2017 CMA Entertainer of the Year award. But he was cursing mad about the winner's performance that night.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Church holds nothing back in saying how much Garth Brooks’ lip-syncing at the 2017 CMAs bothered him. "That pissed me off," he admits. "To me, lip-syncing is and always will be a red line. It’s fabricated. I don’t want young artists thinking it’s OK, because it’s not."

If you missed it, Brooks admitting to lip-syncing during his CMA Awards performance of "Ask Me How I Know." He said he was sick, so his voice was less than its best. Brooks made the decision to use a track instead of performing live. He had played 12 shows in 10 days before the CMAs, and did a full round of media in the days prior.

Church isn't buying it.

“F—k that! And I didn’t like his excuse at all," the "Springsteen" hitmaker says, promising that he’ll never do the same. “If I can’t sing, I won’t sing, or I’ll sing badly. But at least you’ll get what you get.”

As for the actual Entertainer of the Year award? Church admits that he figured after a massive one-man tour in which he played three hours each night, his chances to win were better than ever. The 41-year-old took the loss to Brooks in stride, but recalls his wife Katherine grinning through her teeth and saying that she was going to jump onstage and grab the award a la Kanye West.

Other topics discussed during the extensive Rolling Stone interview are politics and Church's near-death experience. The "Desperate Man" singer's new album drops in October.

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