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Dennis Quaid is opening up about why he left Los Angeles, saying the once “fantastic” city has been on a downward slide for years.
The 72-year-old actor joined the growing exodus of residents fleeing LA when he moved to Nashville, Tennessee with his wife Lauren Savoie, 33, in 2020.
During an interview with Fox News Digital, “The Parent Trap” star, who lived in LA for decades, explained how he became frustrated and disillusioned with the management of the city, a sentiment that he believes is shared by many, particularly following the devastating California fires in early 2025.
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“It used to be such a great town and the ’90s was nice. And then it’s been kind of going downhill and I feel like people pay these taxes for no services is what it gets down to,” he said at the country music festival CMA Fest on Saturday.
Dennis Quaid opened up about why he left LA for Nashville. (John Nacion/Variety)
“And then fire happens and it kind of exposes all those things that go on that should be taken care of,” Quaid continued. “So people are — people are angry and half angry, and they’re half kind of feel like giving up, to tell you the truth.”
“I’m just one of thousands who have left, and I don’t know, I hope the town comes back,” he added. “I really do. It used to be such a fantastic town. It was. It was a great community, too. And something’s happened. People need to be inspired there.”
Despite making Nashville his primary residence, Quaid maintained a home in LA’s Brentwood neighborhood. In January 2025, Quaid was forced to evacuate his house during the fires, which destroyed more than 18,000 buildings and claimed 31 lives.
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Quaid has been an outspoken critic of LA Mayor Karen Bass over the city’s handling of the fires. The actor previously slammed Bass for leaving the country on a trip to Ghana as the blazes erupted. Quaid also blasted local leadership over its preparedness and response, water shortages and cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget.
Following the fires, Quaid actively participated in the “They Let Us Burn” protests as well as calling for Bass to resign and supporting recall efforts against her. Quaid has described himself as a “commonsense independent” who leans conservative and previously slammed what he said was the “extremely” left shift in Hollywood. He publicly endorsed President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election and appeared at conservative political events.
When asked about his thoughts on the LA mayoral primary race, Quaid voiced his support for Spencer Pratt. The 42-year-old former reality star is a registered Republican who ran as an Independent in the nonpartisan race.
“I hope Pratt wins,” he told Fox News Digital.
Quaid supported Spencer Pratt’s mayoral run. (Jacky Godard/Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images; Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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Quaid previously endorsed “The Hills” alum’s campaign during an interview with Fox News Digital at the 2nd Annual Military & Veteran Entertainment Awards Gala in LA last month.
The Emmy Award winner didn’t hold back when asked why he was endorsing Pratt.
“Why? What are you talking about? Why? Just look around, man,” Quaid said.
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Pratt, who has also been a vocal critic of Bass over her response to the fires after losing his own home in the disaster, announced his surprise bid for City Hall at a “They Let Us Burn” protest in January. During his campaign, Pratt emphasized issues such as homelessness, public safety, wildfire response and infrastructure.
In the June 2 primary election, Pratt spent several days in second place behind Bass and appeared on track for the November runoff before late-counted mail ballots steadily narrowed his lead and eventually pushed City Councilmember Nithya Raman ahead.
Though California’s vote count is still being finalized, Bass and Raman are now projected to advance to the November election.
The actor explained that he was frustrated and disillusioned with the changes that he had seen in LA. (Diana King/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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Beyond his frustrations with LA, Quaid has previously said that Nashville’s thriving music scene helped draw him to the city.
While best known for his acting work, Quaid has also pursued a decades-long music career. Quaid performs with his band, Dennis Quaid & The Sharks, and has released multiple albums, blending rock, country and gospel influences. In recent years, he has increasingly focused on faith-based music, including his 2023 gospel album “Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners.”
In 2019, Quaid began working with country music icons Tanya Tucker and the late Kris Kristofferson on a joint recording of the actor’s gospel song, “On My Way to Heaven,” which also featured Brandi Carlile. Though the song and an accompanying music video were completed years ago, the rollout was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quaid and Tucker teamed up with the late country legend Kris Kristofferson for “On My Way to Heaven,” which also featured Brandi Carlile. (Rick Kern/Getty Images)
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During CMA Fest, Quaid appeared with Tucker to discuss the music video for “On My Way to Heaven,” which will be released alongside the audio single on June 20.
While speaking with Fox News Digital ahead of the event, Quaid shared the story behind their collaboration.
“I’d done a record with The Sharks that I had put the song ‘On My Way to Heaven’ on, and it came out and went nowhere,” he recalled. “Then out of the blue, I get a call from ‘TNT’ Tanya Tucker, who was my leading lady 40 years before that.”
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“She was my first leading lady in movies,” Quaid continued. “We did a TV movie called ‘Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill.’ Anyway, she called, and she says, ‘I really like the song and I wanna do it.'”
“‘Really? Well, OK then,'” he remembered telling her. “And then she called back 10 minutes later and said, ‘Kris Kristofferson wants to do it.’ That blew my mind twice. And especially because Kris was, I mean, my hero from the time I was 17.”
“And then over the next two years, really, we recorded with Kris. And Brandi Carlile’s doing backups on it. And this is around the time that Tanya was making a record with her. And, you know, it just came together slowly. And then COVID hit.”
The duo discussed the song’s music video at CMA Fest. (Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)
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Reflecting on the song’s origins, Quaid said the song emerged from one of the most transformative periods of his life, as he navigated recovery after his stint in rehab in the early 1990s, revisited religious texts and deepened his personal faith.
“It was right after I got out of what I call ‘cocaine school’ — rehab,” he recalled. “And it was a song that I wrote that night. You know, they tell you you need a higher power in that program there. I started rereading the Bible.”
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“I’d read it when I was a kid and I read it cover to cover,” Quaid continued. “I also read the ‘Dhammapada’ and the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ and all of them and stuff. It was really a personal relationship with Jesus which really struck me, which is what it’s all about. And I wrote that song, you know, after doing that, also to let my mother know I was OK.'”
The musician weighed in on the success of country music. (Robby Klein/Getty Images)
When asked whether country music’s emphasis on faith, family and hard work has contributed to its success, Quaid said those values have always been at the heart of the genre.
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“That’s the way country music has always been, and it’s grown,” he said. “I grew up on country music, really, with Hank Williams. And my dad would listen to it in the car, the truck on his way to work, because it appealed to working people back then. And it was outside of rock and roll, but it influenced everything.”
“I can’t think of a genre that’s bigger,” Quaid added. “Everybody loves it.”