Spending more than 30 years in the country music industry, fans have seldom had to speculate about what's on John Rich's mind. The latter half of the duo Big & Rich, 51, has weighed in on a number of topics in recent years, from Kanye West to Morgan Wallen's April 2024 arrest on Broadway Street. Now, Rich is enlisting the public to help him track down a stolen ATV.
Taking to X/Twitter Saturday (Aug. 16), John Rich declared in all caps, "I WAS ROBBED!"
The former Lonestar member shared a photo of the stolen item, a Polaris Sportsmen 850 ATV. Urging fans to pay close attention to the "very unique" tires," Rich offered an incentive for anyone with information leading to the vehicle's recovery.
"If you help me find it, I'll send you and [sic] autographed guitar," wrote the "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" crooner.
By the next day, the post had garnered more than 10 million views. "Sorry this happened. Thieves are the worst," one X/Twitter user wrote.
Consequently, Rich also didn't mince words when sharing his opinion on thieves. "I really appreciate all of you 'keeping an eye out for this... My main goal is to find out WHO the thief is," he wrote in a separate post. "He's gonna have a very bad day if we can find him."
Before teaming up with William "Big Kenny" Alphin to form Big & Rich, John Rich served as bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the country band Lonestar. During an interview earlier this year, the "Shut Up About Politics" singer offered more insight into his 1998 departure.
In this case, Rich said, his unabashed outspokenness worked against him. "You know how I am at 51, I'm rather an intense individual," he said during an April appearance on the Try That in a Small Town podcast. "You can imagine me in my early and mid-twenties what that was all about. I'm wanting to record songs like 'Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy).' They're wanting to record 'Mr. Mom.' Completely opposite views.
The tension came to a head following the band's 1997 New Year's Eve show. "And the more aggravated I got, the more aggravated they got... And eventually that just became unsustainable," Rich recalled. "They said, 'New Year's Eve, the gig we just did...yeah that was your last gig.'"