Ryan Adams canceled his latest tour this week. His explanation? He’s broke. Sick. Tired. Defeated.
Maybe all of that is true. Touring is brutal. The music business is unforgiving. And I don’t take pleasure in watching someone suffer.
But I also don’t have much sympathy for Ryan Adams.
For years, multiple women—including Phoebe Bridgers and Mandy Moore (his ex-wife)—have described the same basic pattern. Adams allegedly offered to mentor young female artists, pursued them romantically, and then, when those relationships soured or his advances were rejected, retaliated by undermining their careers or harassing them. Those allegations permanently altered how many view him.
What struck me wasn’t just the allegations. It was how many musicians felt compelled to turn them into songs.
Phoebe Bridgers gave us “Motion Sickness”.
Jason Isbell wrote “Chaos and Clothes”.
Lucinda Williams unloaded with “Shadows & Doubts” and “Little Rock Star”.
Old 97’s? Depending on how you count, they may have written three songs inspired by Adams: “The New Kid”, “Book of Poems”, and “Crash on the Barrelhead”.
I can’t think of many musicians who’ve inspired an entire playlist of songs about what an awful human being they allegedly are.
That last one, “Crash on the Barrelhead”, hits especially hard. Its message is unmistakable: if you keep living this way, eventually your choices catch up with you. Twenty-seven years later, these lyrics feel almost prophetic:
You’re gonna crash on the barrelhead, son
You’ll regret the things that you done
One of these days you’re gonna rue
All the messed up things you do
The universe has a funny way of keeping score. Not always. Not quickly. But often enough.
Your reputation is the ledger.
It’s one of the few things you build every single day without even realizing it. Every decision, every interaction, every kindness, every betrayal—they all become part of the story other people tell about you.
Once that story hardens, it’s incredibly difficult to rewrite. Trust takes years to earn, seconds to lose, and for many people is never fully regained. Rebuilding a reputation is far harder than rebuilding a career or a tour schedule.
Eventually, enough people tell the same story about you that it stops sounding like gossip and starts sounding like your legacy.
Live your life so that you’re never the subject of someone else’s song about what an awful person you are.
Here’s what I read this week that you should read, too.
The EEOC Just Broke Ground on EEO-1’s Funeral 🪦 — via Eric Meyer’s Employer Handbook Blog
AI agent went rogue and hacked startup by itself, OpenAI reveals — via The Guardian
Does the Second Circuit’s Motive-Based Test Apply to Connecticut Religious Accommodation Law? — via Dan Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog
Employer beats age claim. But not retaliation. — via Employment & Labor Insider
Remote work isn’t always a ‘reasonable’ accommodation: 4 tips for employers — via HR Dive
When Investigating Isn’t Enough: 5th Circuit Highlights Importance of Being Thorough — via EntertainHR
My boss overshared about a coworker’s drinking problem — via Ask a Manager
A Digital Health Check for Your Brewery — via Brewers Association
