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Tag: brantley gilbert sober

  • From Tim McGraw To Shania Twain: Country Music’s Sober Stars Rise

    From Tim McGraw To Shania Twain: Country Music’s Sober Stars Rise

    Some of the biggest names in country music share their reasons for getting sober.

    Country crooners love to sing about beer and whiskey, but it’s becoming more and more common for the genre’s biggest stars to talk openly about their sobriety. 

    One of country’s biggest names, Tim McGraw, has been sober since 2008. 

    “I got to a point in my career, where it was either time to give up, not try to be the best you can be moving forward or try to be the best that you can be,” he told The Boot. His wife, fellow country star Faith Hill, told him it was time to put the alcohol aside and stop drinking before shows. 

    “I was at a crossroads in my life on all fronts: I wanted to be healthy, I wanted to be around for my kids, I wanted to be a better husband and a better father, I wanted to take care of myself mentally and physically, and I wanted to get the most out of my career that I could get out of my career,” McGraw said. 

    Keith Urban also got sober at the prompting of his famous wife, Nicole Kidman, who staged an intervention. He has now been sober for 13 years and wishes he had stopped drinking sooner.

    “It’s something I needed because I’m alcoholically wired,” Urban said. “I wish I’d gotten sober many years earlier than I did, but it is what it is.”

    Urban later helped Brantley Gilbert navigate early sobriety. 

    “I remember him telling me, ‘Hey man, it’s gonna be scary, it’s gonna freak you out, but it’s gonna be beautiful,’” Gilbert said. 

    Even the artists who sing about drinking the most are no longer imbibing. Brad Paisley is behind the hit song “Alcohol,” but he is sober, and Chris Janson sings the hit song “Fix A Drink,” but he stays away from alcohol too. However, in the past, Janson did rely on alcohol to fix his troubles. 

    “I can relate because not so long ago I was that guy, I totally get it… I’ve drank a lot of beer in my life, and whatever problems I had walking in, they were gone by 10,” he said. 

    Although he didn’t have a full-blown drinking problem, he said that alcohol kept him from feeling his best. 

    “I just choose not to because it always made me feel bloated and fat—I’m 135 pounds, so 10 beers makes me feel like a balloon, man,” he said. 

    Powerhouse vocalist Shania Twain also stays away from alcohol for health reasons, she wrote in her biography. 

    “I like a clean band. I don’t like drugs. I don’t like alcohol,” she said. “I like to have clean-living people around me.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Country Star Brantley Gilbert Is Enjoying Sobriety And Family Life

    Country Star Brantley Gilbert Is Enjoying Sobriety And Family Life

    In a recent interview, Gilbert joked that he is “allergic” because it causes him to “break out into handcuffs.”

    Country music star Brantley Gilbert talked sobriety and spending time with people who drink in a recent interview with PopCulture.com. Gilbert, like many musicians, found himself pulled into substance abuse and addiction as he gained fame and fought hard to reclaim control of his life after years of alcoholism and prescription drug abuse.

    Today, he’s seven years sober and is not only able to spend time around people while they drink, he says he enjoys it.

    “It’s just one of those things where I’ve decided it wasn’t for me,” he said. “It’s just a thing that’s just not a part of my life any more. It’s around everything I do, and my career is around it. I enjoy being in the environment, I enjoy being around people that drink.”

    This includes his wife “when she’s not pregnant,” Gilbert says. He also joked that he’s “allergic” to alcohol, saying it causes him to “break out into handcuffs.”

    The singer has joked being arrested multiple times in the past. In an interview with Taste of Country, he responded to a question about Spring Break by saying that his police record in Panama City says he’s been there, “but I don’t recall it.”

    “My arrest report says I’ve been to Panama City a few times,” he said, laughing.

    All jokes aside, Gilbert’s addiction disorder likely would have killed him if he hadn’t gotten the support and treatment he needed.

    In an interview with PEOPLE last year, he revealed that in 2011 his doctors told him that if he didn’t stop drinking, he would be dead within a year. Even then, he didn’t take recovery very seriously.

    “I still put it off and was trying to slow down on my own, like, ‘All right I’m only gonna let myself take two pills today. I’m only gonna drink this much of my bottle and make a mark on the bottle.’ And it would work a couple days —  and then somebody throws a party.”

    Thankfully, fellow country music singer Keith Urban gave Gilbert an unexpected boost of inspiration when he needed it, explaining that creativity could still thrive without alcohol. Now Gilbert is enjoying a growing family with his wife, one-year-old son, and their yet-unborn baby girl. He’s only worried about one day having to explain his addiction disorder to his children.

    “It’s one thing now for me and my career,” he said. “It’s another thing when these little ones get old enough to hear stories. They’re gonna know I’m not a super-hero like most kids do. We’ll cross those bridges when we get to them.”

    View the original article at thefix.com