Country superstar Luke Bryan had some serious “splainin’ to do to irate old-school country fans when remarks he made in an interview — apparently disparaging “outlaw country”; and such Nashville legends as Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings — sparked a flurry of social media outrage.

The comments came from a wide-ranging interview the singer did with Hits Daily Double, in which he explains why his music is worlds away from the hard-livin’, booze-and-drugs “outlaw country”; of an earlier era.

“I think that people who want Merle, Willie, and Waylon just need to buy Merle, Willie and Waylon,”; he said. “I’ve never been a ‘Those were the good old days’ kind of guy. I’m not big on looking back on the past.”;

He added: “I’m not an outlaw country singer. I don’t do cocaine and run around. So I’m not going to sing outlaw country. I like to hunt, fish, ride around on my farm, build a big bonfire and drink some beers — and that’s what I sing about. It’s what I know. I don’t know about laying in the gutter, strung out on drugs. I don’t really want to do that.”;

Bryan’s remarks were instantly taken to be a diss at Willie and his still-beloved compatriots, and Luke was sharply taken to task on social media and on country radio, where one station remarked that “Luke Bryan thinks people who like outlaw country are into drugs and taking naps in gutters.”;

To quell the firestorm of controversy, Bryan took to Twitter to explain himself, claiming he meant no disrespect and actually considers “Willie, Waylong and Merle musical heroes”;:

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