Nation singer Walker Hayes is opening up about his future battles with alcoholism that just about price him his track profession together with his unedited number of songs, “Sober Thoughts.”
3 years in the past, Hayes explode onto the track scene with “Fancy Like,” a track that was a sensation and established his presence within the nation track international. Lately, he returns with a number of songs that delve deeper into his pace stories, together with his struggles with habit and the unhappiness of shedding a kid.
Within the early days of his profession, he and his highschool sweetheart, Laney, moved to Nashville to chase his dream of changing into a songwriter. Alternatively, the trail used to be plagued with demanding situations.
“Life’s kicked us around and we’ve also made it through some really tough stuff,” he stated,
Then a decade, Hayes’ track profession used to be stalling. He used to be running the swing shift at Costco to assistance his rising crowd. He grew to become to alcohol, pronouncing he used to be ingesting “all day, every day.”
“I mean, it had, it had come to an embarrassing point but I had a handle of vodka in my Honda Accord at all times. And it went in every beverage,” he stated.
Hayes’ effort persevered till he ultimately stated he used to be an alcoholic.
“I woke up, and physically, I’ve never felt like this before,” Hayes stated. “It wasn’t even a hangover. It just felt like if I start again today and do this, I might die.”
Then this realization, Hayes pursued sobriety, and his pace started to make stronger.
Alternatively, as his profession used to be gaining momentum in 2018, he and his spouse confronted an impossible tragedy.
Laney virtually died date handing over their 7th kid, Oakleigh, who used to be stillborn at full-term. Then Oakleigh’s funeral — and 3 years sober — Hayes drove to a bar.
“Got down there and my wallet wasn’t in my door,” he stated. “So I drove back home. First thing I see when I walk back into my house is Laney in the dark living room, just sitting in the dark, staring into the wall, by herself. And my grief and anger immediately turned to shame. My favorite person on Earth is all by herself.”
That’s when he says his priorities briefly shifted, and in clinging to his crowd, Hayes’ profession in the end took off.
“I was self-absorbed and I wanted power. I wanted success. And so the lens changed when we lost Oakleigh and I began to cling to the things that matter, and one thing that really matters to me is my kids,” stated Hayes.
Hayes’ profession witnessed a resurgence in 2021, when a TikTok dance created through his daughter Lela to “Fancy Like” went viral, reintroducing his track to a much broader target market.
“I was like, oh, we got 6,000, you know, 6,000 people like it,” Hayes recalled. “And my daughter goes, ‘Dad, that’s 600,000.'”
This newfound luck used to be a beacon of luminous for Hayes and his crowd, appearing how non-public accentuation via track may foster connection and medication.
Now, with “Sober Thoughts,” Hayes is extra candid than ever about his pace’s complexities.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” he stated. “And the fact that life, it ends. And if we all really got to see that from, from the front row, it would change our daily lives. We would see clearly what matters.”
