Marcus King Doesn’t Read Comments, But The One Time He Did It Led Him To Stop Drinking

Marcus King is sitting down to talk about his new music after yesterday’s announcement of Mood Swings. 

The upcoming project with legendary producer Rick Rubin seems like it is going to be the most vulnerable collection of songs that we have seen from King. The two singles that have been released thus far, “Mood Swings” and “F*** My Life Up Again,” are a tremendous lead-off as to what we are going to see throughout the record.

Marcus King has been very open while promoting the album and in the past about his struggles with mental health and addiction. While King has spoken in the past, advocating for those to take care of their mental health, he is now talking about his relationship with alcohol and other substances.

King recently appeared on Zach Sang’s podcast, The Zach Sang Show, and tells a story of his final straw with drinking, giving it on top of coming off the harder stuff.

King first admitted that he was coming off drugs the night before he met his wife, Briley King. While he was clean of scarier substances, he was still drinking heavily. While there is a heavy drinking culture surrounding musicians and life on the road, there is a trend of many artists giving up alcohol, and King followed suit after an Instagram comment struck a chord with him.

As he admitted that he doesn’t read comments good or bad, he gave in one night before taking the stage and saw a comment from a fan noting he was disappointed in King’s performance the prior night because he seemed too messed up.

“I have reminders set in my phone…like every few hours on my phone, I have reminders that just say, ‘Don’t read comments.’ 

….

That particular day, I read one about this dude who was saying, ‘I saw Marcus, and he was all f***** up and too drunk to play. What a shame this kid’s gonna f***** up his whole career.’ And I didn’t think I was too f***** up to play, but maybe I was having an off night. And then I was like, I’m not drinking before this gig.”

King then goes on to say that it was one of his first sober shows, and the connection he felt with his fans that night on stage was unlike any other.

“It just felt like the truest. And there was no security blanket. No liquid encouragement. I spoke to the crowd like I am speaking to you now about what certain songs were written about, and I just had a much more honest dialog with my audience. I realized in that moment that I didn’t need to shy away from that.” 

Since experiencing that feeling, King has decided to keep it in motion, cutting out drinking from his life. While he admits he’s not sure what his relationship with alcohol will look like in the future, he knows that he likes the way he feels now being clear-minded on stage – connecting with his audience on a deeper level.

King is one hell of a performer, and if you get the chance to see him grace the stage, I highly recommend it.

Zach Sang and King discuss life, the new album, how he met his bride, growing up gigging and more throughout the podcast. It’s well worth the listen.

If you haven’t played Marcus King’s new single “Mood Swings,” check it out while you’re here.