EXCLUSIVE — When Virginia-based Deputy Sheriff Chris Darlington puts his badge away, he sits down at his piano. And he’s now ready to release his first single on major country radio.
Darlington has served in law enforcement for nearly 20 years and is currently the Frederick County Sheriff’s office deputy in northern Virginia. He’s just as passionate about music, managing to incorporate the efforts of the men and women in uniform into some of his songwriting.
One of his first singles, “Hold the Line,” was a 2020 ballad intended to boost the morale of law enforcement at a time when communities were growing increasingly hostile to police. That year marked the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and violent riots in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Major cities seemed to sour on law enforcement and, according to some, the media only fanned the flames.
“That was kind of a bad year for everyone with the COVID, with the shutdown,” Darlington told Fox News Digital. “So that gave me time, right, to think and to write more. And I felt like the media was real hard then. It seemed like every time something happened, right, that law enforcement didn’t do right, or maybe they did do right. Or maybe it was a one side saying was right, one side thing was wrong. I felt like it was a bad time for law enforcement.”
“Somewhere, you know, something would kick off and the media would be demonizing law enforcement as a whole,” he continued. “So I felt like law enforcement could use something to lift up their spirits and motivate them to keep them going. So that was the idea behind the song. I just wanted to uplift the men and women that do the job and let them know that, yeah, there’s some bad eggs in a dozen. But you know, for the most part, most of us are good people.”
Darlington warned fellow artists against painting authority figures in a bad light. In 2025, Zach Bryan caused a country music stir when he released an anti-ICE single questioning the agency’s priorities.
“I respect Zach as an artist, and everybody has the right to speak their mind. I’d just encourage people with a huge platform to be careful with their words, because they carry weight,” Darlington said. “As an active duty deputy sheriff, I’d hate to see a brother or sister in law enforcement get hurt because of division or negativity fueled toward cops just trying to do their job and make it home safe.”
Darlington praised Bryan as an artist and acknowledged his freedom of speech, but expanded on how his lyrics could negatively impact the work he and his fellow officers do on a daily basis.
“I’ll give him credit,” Darlington said. “He’s a good artist. But I think that, you know, he’s riding his country music lane. And I think that he needs to be careful, for one, because a lot of his listeners probably don’t — maybe he gained some, maybe he lost some. I don’t know how it balanced out for him. But I will say, as a respect to him having a right to write about what he wants, I’d give him that freedom. I think that’s his God-given right to tell his story, and I can’t take that away from him. I will say that I felt like a line in that song was kind of a blow to law enforcement as a whole.”
A representative for Bryan didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Darlington believes the majority of country music listeners still adhere to traditional values and a sense of patriotism.
“And hopefully we can maintain those listeners, so I guess what I’m trying to say, hopefully the whole industry doesn’t change and shift due to a political climate,” he said. “That makes sense. But I think traditionally, I think that most country music listeners are still the same. They still hold the traditional American values. But, you know, we could lose that, and I want to be the ones that kind of hold that.”
While Darlington said he has noticed that some respect has “dissipated” in some younger people for law enforcement due to what they’ve witnessed in the media, he is fortunate to serve in a county in which the relationship between police and the community is still on solid ground.
“I think we’ve got a lot of good people here in Frederick County that are still good people,” he said. “And just, for example, I can be in a drive-thru in my cruiser and the person in front of me sometimes will buy your, pay for your meal, or I can be sitting down in a restaurant even on my meal break and when I go to pay, somebody will pay. So I’m blessed that we still live in a good community here.”
Darlington’s new single, “What Do You Want,” will be his first song to make it to major country radio.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything on country radio like it,” he said. “It’s an upbeat song, and it is kind of about like when you’re in the point of a relationship where you’re kind of getting played, where you are getting strung on, like, you know, make up your mind, you’re kind of getting these maybes, but you know, you are not getting a full commitment of yes or no, and you’re getting strung on the road.”
The National Sheriffs’ Association said they were “proud” to stand behind Darlington’s career move.
“The National Sheriffs’ Association is proud to see one of our own go from protecting communities in uniform to lighting up the country music stage,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. “His story is a reminder that law enforcement officers bring talent, heart, and dedication to everything they do.”
Darlington will be performing his new music at this week’s National Police Week Gala in Washington, D.C.
