Zach Bryan Shares New Song 'High Road' amid Ex-Girlfriend Brianna LaPaglia's Allegations of Emotional Abuse
Bryan paid tribute to his late mother in an Instagram post about his new song
Zach Bryan released two new songs, "This World's a Giant" and "High Road," on Nov. 7
"High Road" finds him seemingly reflecting on his mother's death, as he sings about waiting "by the telephone all f---ing night for someone that ain't ever gonna call"
The tracks arrived the same day as his ex-girlfriend Brianna "Chickenfry" LaPaglia's allegations of emotional abuse against the country star
Zach Bryan is letting his music do the talking amid allegations of emotional abuse made against him by his ex-girlfriend Brianna "Chickenfry" LaPaglia.
On Thursday, Nov. 7, the 28-year-old country star shared his latest track "High Road," which arrived the same day as his song "This World's a Giant" and amid LaPaglia's allegations of emotional abuse on her BFFs Podcast.
After sharing "This World's a Giant" on Thursday, Bryan released his latest song "High Road" alongside a lengthy Instagram caption the same night.
The track arrived the same day that LaPaglia, 25, alleged the musician emotionally abused her and asked her to sign an NDA.
Reps for LaPaglia and Bryan did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's requests for comment at the time.
Related: Zach Bryan ‘Ruined’ Golden Globes for Ex Brianna LaPaglia, She Alleges, Because He Hated Her Dress
Describing his new song on Instagram, Bryan detailed what it was like to drive to his mother's grave site in Oklahoma after "not being home for a year and a half." Bryan's mother Annette Bryan died in August 2016.
"Told her I quit touring because I got accepted to get my masters in Paris next year, I told her I was back in Oklahoma, told her about all my best friends in New York and all the nights we howled with the moon, told her about the immeasurable laughter my band and me have shared these last five years, all the calluses on my finger tips, every tear shed, told her about making it on the Rolling Stone [sic] and most importantly told her about porch swinging with my beautiful sister," he wrote. "I wrote the chorus for this song a month or two back and finished it when I realized I was blessed with all these things."
"I figured it was about time I released it," he added. "Thank you guys for listening to ‘This Worlds a Giant’ last night and thank you to all the people who love me; who have truly carried the weight with me. Seems that all these Quiet Dreams have gotten much too heavy but I’m home now and I’ll hold you through the pain. 'High Road' is out today and I appreciate all of you."
In the song itself, Bryan sings of waiting "by the telephone all f---ing night for someone that ain't ever gonna call," and appears to reflect on the death of his mother.
"Remember tellin' me I was gonna hit the big time / You died, guess you told God it was true," he sings. "Remember sittin' on your porch, you talked about your old regrets / In Tulsa while the bad things took your brain / It seems the quiet dreams have gotten much too heavy / But I'm home now, and I’ll hold you through the pain."
Bryan's new song arrived as LaPaglia accused her ex-boyfriend of emotional abuse during a Thursday appearance on the BFFs Podcast she cohosts with Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards. It marked the first time she opened up about her relationship with the country singer since he announced their breakup on Oct. 22.
During the podcast, LaPaglia described the last year of her life as "the hardest year of my life dealing with the abuse from this dude," before sharing that she was "scared" of him and "didn't want to talk about it 'cause I was scared" the week before.
She described the alleged abuse as a cycle of "build you up, beat you down, apologize over and over."
"There was always another excuse as to why he was treating me so poorly and why I'm crying myself to sleep every night," she said. "Why he's screaming at me and then you wake up, it's the apology, it's the 'I'm going to be better like I need you in my life,' but if you've been through this — I don't expect people to understand emotional abuse if you haven't been through it. I hope you never have to go through it but if you've been there you know what I'm talking about."
LaPaglia also alleged that women who were previously in relationships with Bryan were made to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to keep them from publicly discussing their experiences with him. She also claimed that she was offered $12 million to "not talk about the relationship."
"It came down to the point of I'm not the people before, and I was someone before you, and you made the women before me believe that they had no other choice than to take money from you, sign their experiences away, sign what they went through away," LaPaglia said.
"You get to go skip off and sing your little f----- songs on stage like you're a good dude. You get to treat people around you like s---. Sorry, I'm not them. I don't want your money; I don't want in two years to buy a f------house and think, 'Oh, this is the money from the dude that literally f----- destroyed me and broke me for a year.'"
The pair officially started dating in July 2023 before Bryan confirmed their split on Instagram on Oct. 22.