Country music and alcohol just go together.
You hear it referenced in many songs and often see artists drinking on stage, but it’s important to remember that many incredibly talented artists in the genre gave up drinking to find clarity and the best version of themselves before everything around them crumbled.
Of course, it’s a very difficult journey for most people to find sobriety, especially when you’re in an industry that glorifies everything about it, which makes the feat all the more impressive and admirable.
Does that mean they stop singing about it all together? Well, not in the case of artists like Chris Janson, Brantley Gilbert, Keith Urban and others, but for some, they might opt to take their music in a different direction.
And recently, we’ve seen a few artists announce their sobriety, including Charles Kelly and Turnpike Troubadours frontman Evan Felker, so with that being said, lets take a look at country music stars who have either given up drugs and/or alcohol, or never started in the first place.
American Aquarium’s BJ Barham
BJ is very open about his personal struggles with alcohol, and his fans know him as someone who is happy to share and be candid if they’re on a similar journey to find sobriety.
Muscadine Bloodline’s Charlie Muncaster
Jo Dee Messina
The famous ’90s country singer called it quits after checking into rehab in 2004, after an eye opening rough performance at a party following the Super Bowl that year.
She’s been sober since.
Margo Price
2020 was a brutal year for all of us, and particularly for Margo Price. The social climate began taking a toll on her, leading to excessive drinking. She eventually realized she needed to quit for good.
She explains the decision in a feature in GQ.
Josh Turner
Josh is one of those who never started drinking. In an interview with CBN, Josh said: “I’ve never had a drink of alcohol in my life.”
Turnpike Troubadours Frontman Evan Felker
The Turnpike Troubadours frontman found himself in a number of “drunk on stage” incidents leading up to the band’s hiatus in 2020.
However, Turnpike is back and better than ever with a sober Evan Felker at the helm (fiddle player Kyle Nix as well), and he even rekindled his marriage with his wife Staci and they recently welcomed their second child.
Lady A’s Charles Kelley
The co-front man of Lady A has officially kickstarted his journey to sobriety, forcing the group to make the tough decision to cancel their tour last year.
Tyler Childers
Tyler announced back in 2020, along with the release of his fiddle album, Long Violent History, that he had been sober for 6 months at the time of the video, and he seemingly has been sober since.
Jesse Daniel
The rising Texas country star is very open about his sobriety journey, and celebrated his sixth anniversary of being completely drug and alcohol-free earlier this year.
Tim McGraw
We all know this transformation. Flipping tires in the stadium parking lot has been McGraw’s new pregame for some time now.
Ol’ Tim has come a long way since he got arrested with Kenny Chesney in New York back in 2000.
