A fake cowboy just beat real country singers, and somehow we’re applauding.
“Walk My Walk,” a song “performed” by an artificial intelligence artist named Breaking Rust, has climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The fact that the song made it this far means we should all be ashamed. The gravel-voiced drifter behind the mic isn’t a man at all — he’s a string of algorithms packaged as authenticity.
A general view of a guitar made by Clovis Tchoufack (not seen) and displayed in his workshop, in Douala on August 18, 2025. (Photo by Daniel Beloumou Olomo / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL BELOUMOU OLOMO/AFP via Getty Images)
Breaking Rust doesn’t exist in the flesh, yet he’s racked up millions of streams and tens of thousands of followers who swoon over cinematic clips of a lone cowboy who never was. On Spotify, his phantom presence pulls in more than 2 million monthly listeners. His hit “Livin’ on Borrowed Time” has been streamed more than 4 million times — by people seemingly unaware, or unconcerned, that there’s no soul behind the song.
This isn’t innovation — it’s imitation.
While genuine artists bleed for their craft, the industry now cheers as computers mimic emotion and rise up the charts.
INDIO, CA – APRIL 29: (EDITORS NOTE: This image was desaturated.) Festivalgoers walk through water misters during day 2 of 2017 Stagecoach California’s Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club on April 29, 2017 in Indio, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images for Stagecoach)
Society’s obsession with digital gimmicks over human grit makes for a sad commentary on where music — and our collective taste — is headed. When a made-up cowboy can out-sing the real ones, things have gone too far.
It means America is willing to trade flesh-and-blood artists for lines of code, and says more about us than it does about technology. The heart of country music is built on heartbreak and faith. Artists live and breathe their craft, leave their loved ones to go on grueling tours and take the stage night after night. Algorithm can’t do any of that — so it shouldn’t be permitted to score a chart-topping win. (RELATED: Country Music Star Alan Jackson Retires After Three Decades In Music)
This is a grim reminder of our failing society. Artificial intelligence didn’t steal the charts — we handed them over. If an AI cowboy topped Billboard, it means millions of people hit “play” and caused the problem.
You won’t find the song or video here — it’s been clicked on enough.
