Country Star Chris Stapleton Talks About His Decision To Get Sober

Country music star Chris Stapleton talked about his decision to stop drinking a few years ago, saying that no one had to tell him it was time to get sober.

The 45-year-old country singer, who’s been sober for years, told GQ magazine that he “didn’t have to go to rehab” to know he had a problem and needed to make a change in his lifestyle.

“…but from a 45-year-old-man health perspective, a doctor’s gonna look at me and go, ‘Hey, man, probably cut out the drinking,’ and I’d be like, ‘Okay, cool,'” Stapleton said.

Chris Stapleton chose to get sober without rehab: “I got into a drinking contest with myself … and I lost” https://t.co/XF6jvGd3i0

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 2, 2023

“I like to tell people that I got into a drinking contest with myself in my 20s, and I lost,” he added. “When you’re younger, you feel like you have to do certain things in order to occupy some of these spaces, to make yourself feel like you’re legit. You want to feel things. You want to be able to write about things authentically.”

“If somebody working a different kind of job drank themselves to death in the name of being better at that job, it wouldn’t make sense to anybody,” Stapleton continued. “We wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, he must have been the greatest electrician who ever lived.'”

Stapleton’s pre-show ritual used to include a shot of tequila but now involves doing vocal exercises, the outlet noted. The country star talks about his previous drinking in a song called “The Bottom” on his upcoming album “Higher,” Fox News noted.

Stapleton and his wife wife Morgane share five children together, three of them under 6. His solo break in country music came 8 years ago with his 2015 debut album “Traveller.”

The “Broken Halos” hitmaker said his wife, who is also a producer on his new album, is his “barometer on songs.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP

“Even if your wife wasn’t heavily involved in your career, if you’re happily married and you want to stay that way, you don’t want to sing things that your wife hates,” he added.

Stapleton is currently on tour with his “All American Road Show.” His new album “Higher” comes out November 10.

Related: Country Star Chris Stapleton Postpones New York Concert Due To Smoke-Filled Skies