John Rich warns Nashville's famed Broadway could go dark as businesses face tax ‘death nail’

Nashville's Lower Broadway at a Crossroads as Tax Hikes Threaten Iconic Honky-Tonks, John Rich Warns

NASHVILLE — A surge in property taxes is pushing longtime businesses along Nashville's Lower Broadway to the financial brink, and country music star John Rich says the neon signs that have defined the city's entertainment district for decades could start going dark.

Rich, one half of the duo Big & Rich and owner of Redneck Riviera Bar & BBQ on Lower Broadway, sounded the alarm in a Facebook video last week and in subsequent comments to Fox News Digital. He pointed to what he called a "one-two punch" of sharply inflated property appraisals followed by aggressive tax increases, arguing that the combination has become unsustainable for many of the district's best-known establishments.

"The first thing he did was they reappraised everybody's property in the county, in the city, and as soon as they got that done, which was an extremely inflated appraisal rate, then they come in and raise the taxes aggressively on top of these extremely inflated appraisals," Rich said. "With those two things, what you've done is you've now put a death nail in a vast majority of the businesses."

The 52-year-old singer said the consequences are already visible. "We've already had three in the past two weeks have to shut down," Rich said. "I'm talking major, major, major places that have been there for decades."

The financial pressure stems from a 2025 reappraisal conducted by Davidson County's independently elected assessor of property, which produced a 45% median increase in property values countywide. Under Tennessee law, the reappraisal itself is supposed to be revenue-neutral, with the tax rate adjusted so higher values do not automatically translate into more government revenue. But Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell and the Metro Council subsequently set the Urban Services District tax rate at $2.814 per $100 of assessed value, 26% above the revenue-neutral certified rate, according to the assessor's office.

The impact was especially severe on Lower Broadway, where a 400% increase in real estate values was common, Axios Nashville reported. Because many honky-tonk operators rent their buildings and are responsible for the property taxes under their leases, they have been left to absorb rising tax bills without benefiting from the increased equity in the properties they operate.

The strain has already claimed at least one major venue. Nashville Underground, a fixture on the strip for roughly eight years, permanently closed in May. Acme Feed & Seed, a four-story restaurant, bar and live music venue, has become a flashpoint in the broader debate. Owner Tom Morales said the business's annual property tax bill jumped from $129,000 to nearly $600,000, and that Acme ended 2025 about $500,000 in the red. He and his daughter Lauren later told the Nashville Scene that closure was "imminent" if they could not find a solution.

Rich said he has also heard that Hard Rock Cafe Nashville, a Broadway presence since 1994, is considering closing, though that claim has not been independently confirmed.

At a recent gathering of Lower Broadway business owners, Rich said the mood was grim and unusually unified. "In that meeting, all the ownership of Broadway was represented down there, and every single person said it's only a matter of time before we literally have to close the doors because we're running at a deficit," Rich said. "We'd have to charge $50 a beer, which you can't do that. I mean, there is no business model that exists that allows the businesses down there to stay open."

He emphasized that the operators sounding the alarm are among the most experienced in the industry. "You're not talking about a bunch of amateurs here," Rich said. "You're looking at the best of the best, and they can't survive it."

Mayor O'Connell addressed Morales's warnings earlier this year in an interview with Nashville's Fox 17, drawing sharp criticism for his response. "It's not up to me whether he keeps that business open," O'Connell said. "The market evolves. New businesses start even as beloved old businesses close." Metro Councilmember Jacob Kupin told the station he was "appalled" by the remark. O'Connell's office later accused the station of selectively editing and misrepresenting his remarks and released a longer version of the exchange, in which the mayor said the state comptroller had reviewed downtown valuations and determined they reflected market value. He called Acme's location "an incredibly valuable piece of property" and said it was up to the owner to determine how to capture that value.

Rich blamed O'Connell, a Democrat, for the tax burden, and accused him of using tax policy to reshape the character of Nashville. "It is a tactic to tax things out of existence that you don't like and replace them with things that you'd rather have there," Rich said. He described what he envisions as the worst-case outcome: "Can you imagine the neon signs on Broadway replaced with government buildings and corporate offices? I think that's what he wants."

Rich also pushed back against the notion that the opposition is partisan. "This is not just a bunch of conservatives yelling about it," he said. "The group of business owners that I sat with were from both sides of the aisle. There's all kinds of things we don't agree on amongst each other. But this right here brought unity amongst left and right and middle. It's that bad."

Beyond the individual businesses, Rich framed the fight as one over Nashville's identity. "The bigger story to me is live music in Nashville. I mean, it's called Music City," he said, describing the corridor's distinctive atmosphere. "You walk down Broadway, the doors are all open to all the honky-tonks, you're hearing music from the right side of your head and the left side of your head for five blocks in a row. There's 60, 70, 80 live music venues in that one concentration. It's the only place like it in the world."

"The French Quarter doesn't have that. Las Vegas doesn't have that. Times Square doesn't have that," Rich continued. "There's nowhere in America that has what downtown Nashville has when it comes to live music. And it is absolutely under threat."

He painted a vivid picture of what he fears Nashville could look like when it hosts the 2030 Super Bowl. "Can you imagine when the Super Bowl comes to Nashville here in a few years, and everybody's packed in on Broadway and there's only 30 or 40% of the neon signs that are even still lit up, if you're lucky?" he said. "That's what you're looking at happening. I mean, what a travesty that would be."

Rich, a five-time Grammy nominee and outspoken conservative who has previously joined Trump administration events advocating for landowners' rights, said Broadway owners have reached out to state leaders for relief. They have appealed to Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson and urged Gov. Bill Lee to work with lawmakers on a solution. Sexton's office confirmed to Axios Nashville on Wednesday that the House speaker has spoken with Lee's office and that they are "looking at all possible solutions," including the possibility of a special legislative session.

"Governor Lee, who's still here, has an opportunity to do a special session with the Senate, with the House, and come with some solution that, if nothing else, will buy us some time until we can go in and make the more permanent moves," Rich said.

Despite the financial pressures bearing down on the strip, Rich said the spirit of Broadway remains intact, for now. "The culture on Broadway hasn't changed at all," he said. "The crowds that come there, the bands that play there, the owners of those businesses, they're the same as they've always been. It is all about the music. It's all about people coming to town to have a good time and look at what some of the most talented people you've ever seen in your life play on these tiny little stages."