Chris Stapleton is reflecting on his sobriety.
In an interview with GQ, the singer-songwriter explained that although he did not go to rehab, he did stop drinking after realizing that he was downing a shot of tequila before every show, without fail.
"I didn't have to go to rehab, 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, 'OK, cool,' " he told the outlet.
Stapleton shared that he has been sober for years now and the only pre-show ritual he participates in nowadays is vocal exercises
"I like to tell people that I got into a drinking contest with myself in my 20s, and I lost," he said.
"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."
In his upcoming album, "Higher," Stapleton delves into his journey to sobriety. This is particularly evident in his track, "The Bottom."
"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," he said. "We wouldn't say, 'Oh, he must have been the greatest electrician who ever lived.' "
Elsewhere in the interview, the eight-time Grammy winner admitted he and his wife, Morgane, have been going to therapy sessions together.
"It was a way to kind of help us navigate what the world was, what that meant to our family, to our business," he explained.
"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 of Morgane, with whom he shares five kids.