Charley Crockett has spent most of 2025 taking his album Lonesome Drifter out on the road. Naturally, he missed some important news during his busy touring schedule.
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But we're still scratching our heads about how news of President Donald Trump's executive order in January 2025 to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America finally reached Charley Crockett. We're even more puzzled as to why he waited until now to comment.
What Did Charley Crockett Say About the Gulf of America?
Crockett is from the South Texas town of San Benito, which is about an hour's drive away from South Padre Island, so it's understandable why he has an opinion about the sudden change of a body of water.
The Gulf of Mexico kept its name for nearly 500 years, so seeing 'Gulf of America' on Google Maps is jarring if you grew up with the old name, which Charley Crockett confirmed when he shared his dissatisfaction with the name change in a recent social media post.
"I was born on the Gulf Of Mexico," he wrote. "I don't recognize it by any other name. Any real Texan knows that our Mexican American brothers and sisters hold up our economy in every industry. I'm proud to have been born in the Rio Grande Valley where the population is over 90% Latino. If those boys in Washington D.C. wanna go renaming regions of this country, they can start with New England. Because it ain't new and it ain't England."
Fans and peers commented on Crockett's post. Brandi Carlile wrote "Preach" in response. Margo Price added a "Hell yes."
Other fans shared historical information about New England and the Gulf. But one user on Facebook left the perfect comment: "The post we didn't need, 10 months after it was relevant."
Crockett Thinks Country Musicians Have Unique Role As Social Commentators
As we reported back in June, speaking out about the issues is nothing new for Crockett. In fact, he believes country singers are "more qualified to comment on culture" than others.
"And it is ironic how often people tell us that it's not our place to speak on society," he added. "Yet somebody who has seen very little, traveled almost none, and is unwilling to look at viewpoints other than their own is telling a well-traveled man that he's not in any position to have an opinion about the affairs of this world."
It's unclear what prompted Crockett to make his post about the Gulf of Mexico name change now, nearly a year after the news story first broke. Maybe he saw something online or had a conversation that got him thinking about the issue. Or, maybe he feels like it's more time-efficient to address all his controversial takes now that he's been in the news for his feud with Gavin Adcock.
In any case, we don't doubt the Texan has ruffled a few more feathers with his post. We also don't doubt that he's fine with that.
