In an attempt to reel in the hate on his viral “kiss my fish” single, Lee Brice is publicly speaking out for the first time following his Turning Point USA Halftime performance.
Brice’s original song, “Country Nowadays,” which he originally debuted at the Alternative Super Bowl Show, officially dropped today, February 20, at midnight. Following his performance, the internet was swirling with negative backlash at what was seen as an “unnecessary” divide between shows.
Beyond Kid Rock’s lip-syncing accusation and the overall lackluster of the Turning Point production, Brice’s pro-America anthem stood out as one of the most viral moments of the night. Mainly, a clip of Brice singing the opening line caught a lot of attention:“I just want to catch my fish, drive my truck, drink my beer.”
The atypical bro-country line is being parodied left and right with many reposting their versions of the line, “I just wanna kiss my fish, drive my fish, drink my fish.” The misheard lyric has caused an internet frenzy of memes and mocking outlandish remakes.
The “Rumor” singer has, in fact, seen the trend and is even playing into it at his shows. In promotion for the new song, he posted a clip of him singing the “Kiss My Fish” version on stage with the unbothered caption, “Y’all can kiss my fish.”
Finally setting the record straight on the whole incident, Brice called in earlier today to his longtime friends, radio hosts, and “Parking Lot Party” duo, Big D and Bubba. Big D gave props to the country singer for owning the misheard lyric trend to which Brice responded, “Now I got a store, and I’m like thank you for the million dollar idea.” He confirms that merch is on the way, “those hats are gonna be in in like four days.”
Continuing to stand on business, he noted that he’s not afraid to give a fish a smooch, “I kiss it every time, I taught my daughter that, my sons that, you kiss that fish before you put it back in the water.”
In terms of the TPUSA performance and the new song, Brice revealed he was at first disconnected from the internet buzz, considering he doesn’t use social media at home. Setting the record straight, he confirms, “I was never out to hurt anyone.” Adding, “This is just me being a daddy and saying my truth like everybody else has their truth.”
Despite what may have been a kink in his career, Brice is flipping the narrative of this goofy spoof into a new bit for the unbothered singer-songwriter. He certainly isn’t letting the teasing get to him, as this track is only the beginning for what’s to come this year for the 46-year-old.
He announced that his sixth studio album, Sunriser, will be available on June 5 with 16 tracks. Brice will continue to lean into his themes of faith, nationality, and resilience, with him dedicating this project to all the hard workers, saying, “I tip my hat to you sunrisers… from firefighters, nurses, and truck drivers to blue collar workers clocking out of graveyard shifts to tired parents waking up to take care of little ones.”
Watch the full clip here: