Christopher Alvin Stapleton (born April 15, 1978) is an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, Stapleton moved to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in 1996 to study for an engineering degree from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, but dropped out to pursue a career in music. Shortly after, he signed a contract with Sea Gayle Music to write and publish his music. Stapleton has co-written six number-one singles for other artists on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart including

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country singer. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, he released his debut, '' In My Wildest Dreams'', in 1994, and has since released 19 follow-ups. His albums spawned 27 singles tha ...

's five-week number-one " Never Wanted Nothing More", Josh Turner's " Your Man",

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

's " Love's Gonna Make It Alright", and

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television personality. Bryan is a five-time "Entertainer of the Year", being awarded by both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Count ...

's " Drink a Beer". He has been credited on albums for artists including

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Bentley moved to Nashville in the late 90s to pursue a career in music, leading up to his releasing the self-funded and independent album Do ...

, and

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

. He has co-written with

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

, and

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

, among others. As a recording artist, Stapleton served as a vocalist in two bands: the bluegrass ensemble

the SteelDrivers The SteelDrivers are a bluegrass band from Nashville, Tennessee. Members include fiddler Tammy Rogers, bassist Mike Fleming, guitarist/vocalist Matt Dame, mandolinist Brent Truitt, and banjoist Richard Bailey. Past members include Kelvin Damrel ...

and the rock band the Jompson Brothers, before emerging as a solo act. His debut solo album, '' Traveller'' (2015), peaked on top of the US ''Billboard'' 200 and received septuple platinum certification by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). His 2015 cover of the song "

Tennessee Whiskey Tennessee Whiskey is straight whiskey produced in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Although it has been legally defined as a bourbon whiskey in some international trade agreements, most current producers of Tennessee Whiskey disclaim references to ...

" received

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

certification by the RIAA. His second studio album, '' From A Room: Volume 1'' (2017) earned him a second CMA Award for Album of the Year and a Grammy Award for Best Country Album. His third, '' From A Room: Volume 2'' (2017) peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200, and his fourth, '' Starting Over'' (2020), won his third Grammy for Best Country Album. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

was issued as its lead single. Stapleton has been recognized with awards including eleven

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s, eleven

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...

(ACM) Awards, and fifteen

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...

(CMA) Awards. He was named the ACM's Artist-Songwriter of the Decade in September 2019. In 2023, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked Stapleton at number 170 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Early life

Stapleton was born in Lexington,

. His mother, Carol J. (née Mace) Stapleton, worked at the local health department and his father, Herbert Joseph Stapleton Jr. (1946–2013), was an engineer in coal mines. Chris comes from a family of coal miners. He has an older brother, Herbert Joseph III and younger sister, Melanie Brooke. Chris Stapleton grew up in the small town of Staffordsville,

, right outside of

Paintsville Paintsville () is a home rule-class city along Paint Creek in Johnson County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 3,459 during the 2010 U.S. Census. History A Paint Lick Station was referred to in ...

, which is between Staffordsville and Paintsville Lake, a reservoir. Staffordsville is east of Lexington. He graduated from Johnson Central High School in Paintsville where he played football—opposite future NFL draft #1 pick

Tim Couch Timothy Scott Couch (born July 31, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons with the Cleveland Browns. He played college football for the ...

on three occasions—and was class valedictorian.

Career

Career beginnings and bands

In 1996, Stapleton moved to Nashville to study biomedical engineering at

. He switched to business school, but when he discovered that songwriting could be a career after meeting a salaried songwriter he took to songwriting instead. He signed with publishing house Sea Gayle Music shortly after moving to Nashville and earned a reputation as a versatile and prolific songwriter. Over the next ten years he wrote more than one thousand songs. In 2007, he formed a bluegrass group,

, to perform his songs. The band had two hit records; each peaked at number 2 on the bluegrass chart before Stapleton left in 2010 to form a

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

band called the Jompson Brothers, which consisted of Stapleton on vocals, Greg McKee on guitar, J.T. Cure on bass, and Bard McNamee on drums. They toured regionally until 2013 and at one point opened for the

Zac Brown Band Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini (fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukulele, ...

. The band independently released a self-titled album in November 2010, after which Stapleton went solo. The title track of his first album, ''Traveller,'' was composed while he and his wife were on a road trip to New Mexico in 2013. In 2013, Stapleton signed to

Mercury Nashville Music Corporation of America, formerly known as Universal Music Group Nashville, is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. It was officially opened in 1945 as #MCA Nashville, MCA Nashville and #Mercury Nashville, Mercury Nashville wh ...

, a division of Universal Music Group Nashville, as a solo artist. His first single, "What Are You Listening To?", was released in October 2013, but did not perform as expected. The single was part of an album that was recorded, but never released. Stapleton also cowrote the theme "All-Nighter Comin'" to the

WSM-AM WSM (650 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station, located in Nashville, Tennessee. It broadcasts a country music format (with classic country and Americana leanings, the latter of which is branded as "Route 650") and is known as the home of the ...

show ''The WSM All Nighter with Marcia Campbell'', an American radio show with a large trucker following. He co-wrote the song with

and Al Anderson and Gill featured on vocals on the track. Songs written by Stapleton have been included in the soundtracks of several feature films, including ''

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

'', '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip'', and '' Hell or High Water''. In 2013, Stapleton and his wife Morgane sang the

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

song " Amanda" live at the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

. They also played an

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Tiny Desk Concert in November 2015. At the 2014 CMT Artist of the Year event, Stapleton performed with

Lady A Lady A, known until 2020 as Lady Antebellum, is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar ...

ntebellum, who played Stapleton's song, " Drink a Beer", which Luke Bryan had recorded, in honor of Bryan who was unable to attend the ceremony. Stapleton had previously sung it during Bryan's 2013 CMA Awards performance of the same song.

Solo studio albums

Stapleton's debut solo album, '' Traveller'', was released on May 5, 2015. It was recorded in Nashville's RCA Studio A. Stapleton co-produced the album with producer

Dave Cobb Dave Cobb (born July 9, 1974) is an American record producer based in Nashville, Tennessee, best known for producing the work of Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, John Prine, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, The Highwomen, Take That, Rival ...

. On the album he played guitar and sang with a live band made up of bass player J.T. Cure (from the Jompson Brothers), pedal steel player Robby Turner, drummer Derek Mixon, Mickey Raphael on harmonica, and wife Morgane Stapleton singing harmonies. Stapleton emphasized the importance of the band lineup that came together during the making and promotion of the record. He said his familiarity with Cure and Mixon (he had known and played with Cure for over 20 years), plus Cobb's producing, which included contributing acoustic guitar, had added to the richness of making the record. Stapleton composed the title track " Traveller" as he and his wife were driving through

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

on their way back to Nashville in a 1979 Jeep his wife had bought him, which they had flown to Phoenix, to acquire. His wife helped him to sift through 15 years of songs to pick nine to record. Stapleton won three awards at the 2015 Country Music Association Awards: Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and New Artist of the Year. At the CMA Awards, he performed with

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

his version of the song popularized as a

David Allan Coe David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. He ini ...

live-show staple, "

", and Timberlake's " Drink You Away". This performance was considered a career-defining moment by music publications, and with his wins that night he was lifted to national prominence. In December 2015, Stapleton received the 2015 CMT Artists of the Year Breakout award during a live performance at the annual CMT Artists of the Year show. ''Traveller'' was nominated for the

for Album of the Year and won the categories Best Country Album and Best Country Solo Performance. It also won the Academy of Country Music Award for Album of the Year and was the top selling country album of 2016. The album had sold a total of 2 million copies in the US by July 2017. In 2016, Chris, with Morgane, contributed the track "

You Are My Sunshine "You Are My Sunshine" is an American standard of old-time and country music and the state song of Louisiana. Its original writer is disputed. According to the performance rights organization BMI, by the year 2000 the song had been recorded by ...

" to producer

's compilation record project, ''Southern Family''. Chris Stapleton collaborated with Jake Owen on the song " If He Ain't Gonna Love You" on Owen's album '' American Love''. Stapleton performed on the main stage at the 2016 Country to Country festival in Europe along with Andrew Combs,

Kacey Musgraves Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began her career in the early 2000s, when she self-released three solo albums and recorded another album as a member of the duo Texas Two Bits. In 20 ...

and headliner Eric Church. Stapleton was the musical guest on the ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' episode which aired January 16, 2016, alongside host Adam Driver. He performed "

Parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

" and " Nobody to Blame" from ''Traveller''. In January 2016, Stapleton performed " Either Way", a song he had written with Kendall Marvel and Tim James, at the Country Radio Hall of Fame's Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. Lee Ann Womack had previously recorded it for her 2008 album, '' Call Me Crazy''. The track was featured on his second studio album, '' From A Room: Volume 1,'' released on May 5, 2017. ''Volume 1'' was named after Nashville's RCA Studio A, where it was recorded during the winter of 2016–17. The same month, Stapleton embarked on his All-American Road Show Tour. ''Volume 1'' was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the US, giving Stapleton his second CMA for Album of the Year, and became the best-selling country album of 2017. His third studio album, '' From A Room: Volume 2'', was released on December 1, 2017. Both albums, ''Volume 1'' and ''Volume 2,'' debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 charts. Stapleton was the musical guest on ''Saturday Night Live'' for a second time on January 27, 2018, where he performed songs from ''From A Room: Volume 2'' with Sturgill Simpson. In March, " Broken Halos" on ''From A Room: Volume 1'' reached the top of the

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since October 20, 2012, although the magazine also retrospectively recognizes the Hot Country Songs charts from January 20, 1990, through October 13, 2012, ...

chart. It earned him accolades for Song and Single of the Year at the 52nd CMAs. He won Male Vocalist of the Year for a fourth time. On August 28, 2020, Stapleton released a single, " Starting Over", a song he previously performed on tour. It was the lead single from his album of the same name and was his first single release since 2018's "

Millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. Many national currencies have, or ...

". He released a second single, "Cold", on September 25, 2020. He was Male Vocalist of the Year for the fourth time at the 2021 Country Music Association Awards, and Male Artist of the Year for the third time at the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards, where he performed " You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" with

Patty Loveless Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...

Other projects and collaborations

Stapleton co-wrote three songs for

's studio album '' Man of the Woods'' (2018), including their collaboration " Say Something", which reached the top ten list on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. In the same year, Stapleton recorded a cover of " I Want Love" for '' Restoration: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin''. On April 28, 2019, Stapleton appeared as an extra in " The Long Night", the third episode of the eighth season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

''. On August 6, 2019,

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

invited Stapleton on stage at his concert to perform a song they had written the day before, titled "I Just Remembered That I Didn't Care". He stayed on stage for a performance of Mayer's "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room". On July 5, 2019, Stapleton, together with

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...

and

, released Blow, on which Stapleton contributed songwriting and vocals.

played all instruments on the track except bass guitar. The song was written in a basement in Nashville. Over the course of 2019 and 2020, Stapleton recorded and wrote songs with Mike Campbell, formerly the guitarist of

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band formed in Gainesville, Florida, in 1976. The band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer ...

. Campbell and fellow Heartbreaker

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin M ...

played on Stapleton's album ''Starting Over'', and Stapleton featured on the Dirty Knobs' album ''Wreckless Abandon''. On August 5, 2021, Stapleton was featured on

's second re-recorded album, ''

Red (Taylor's Version) ''Red (Taylor's Version)'' is the second re-recorded album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on November 12, 2021, by Republic Records, as part of Swift's re-recording project following the Taylor Swift masters d ...

,'' on the track " I Bet You Think About Me". Stapleton contributed a cover of the Metallica song " Nothing Else Matters" to the charity tribute album '' The Metallica Blacklist'', released in September 2021. He was credited as a vocalist on

's album ''30'', appearing on an alternative version of " Easy on Me". Stapleton collaborated with

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...

and

Audioslave Audioslave was an American Rock music, rock supergroup (music), supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine memb ...

guitarist

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a membe ...

in the writing and performance of the track "The War Inside" on Morello's 2021 album '' The Atlas Underground Fire''. On February 12, 2023, at

Super Bowl LVII Super Bowl LVII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2022 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Confere ...

, Stapleton sang the United States' national anthem at State Farm Stadium in

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...

. The lyrics were signed in

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning actor

Troy Kotsur Troy Michael Kotsur (; born July 24, 1968) is an American actor. Born deaf, Kotsur made his acting debut in the late 1980s working with the National Theatre of the Deaf. His television debut was in a 2001 episode of ''Strong Medicine''. His film ...

. Stapleton was joined by Cindy Blackman Santana and

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

in recording a cover of

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

' "

In the Air Tonight "In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, ''Face Value (album), Face Value'', in January 1981. It was selected as the s ...

" as the 2023 opening theme song for ''

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

.''

Artistry

Stapleton's musical influences range from outlaw country and bluegrass to

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and ''Paste'' magazine described his sound as a blend of country,

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

and

Southern soul Southern soul or country soul is a type of soul and country music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues (both 12 bar and jump), country, early R&B, and a strong gospel ...

. Before going solo, Stapleton led the progressive bluegrass band the SteelDrivers and the rock and roll band the Jompson Brothers. His first solo album, ''Traveller,'' was an old-school country,

and bluegrass record; his second, ''From A Room: Volume 1,'' focused on country, blues and

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in contemporary folk music, folk, blues, and country music. First emerging in the late 1960s, it is seen as a response to the perceived excesses of the then dominant psychedel ...

. He played acoustic guitar and

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

on both albums. Stapleton is a

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer with a

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

vocal range. ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' writer Randy Lewis said in 2015 that his singing recalled "the note-bending style of country that traces to

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield ...

and

Lefty Frizzell William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (March 31, 1928 – July 19, 1975) was an American country and honky-tonk singer-songwriter. Frizell is known as one of the most influential country music vocal stylists of all time. He has been cited as in ...

and the gut-wrenching expressionism of blues and R&B perfected by

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

", while his guitar performances elicited "memories of Texas blues rocker

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

". Stapleton has cited Charles,

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

, and

Freddie King Freddie King (born Fred Christian; September 3, 1934December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King a ...

as some of his musical influences, along with

-based country artists, Keith Whitley, Dwight Yoakam and

. .."Those names are just part of life in Kentucky. You can't help but be aware of them and be influenced by them."

Personal life

Stapleton is married to singer-songwriter Morgane Hayes. The couple met when they were working at adjacent publishing houses and married in 2007. Stapleton and his wife have five children: a son born in 2009, a daughter born in 2010, twin sons born in 2018, and a son born in 2019. They live in Nashville.

Awards

Stapleton has received numerous awards and nominations. He is the recipient of ten

s, ten

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

, fourteen

Country Music Association Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

, five ''Billboard'' Music Awards, two

iHeartRadio Music Awards The iHeartRadio Music Awards is a music awards show that celebrates music heard throughout the year across List of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia, iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on iHeartRadio, iHeartMedia's digital music platf ...

, among others. For his work as composer he has received nine ASCAP Country awards, including the Vanguard Award. In 2019, Stapleton was recognized by the Academy of Country Music as the inaugural ACM artist-songwriter of the decade. ''Traveller'' was ''Billboard''s Top Country Album of the decade.

Discography

* '' Traveller'' (2015) * '' From A Room: Volume 1'' (2017) * '' From A Room: Volume 2'' (2017) * '' Starting Over'' (2020) * '' Higher'' (2023)

Tours and concerts

Main act

* Hank Williams Jr. and Chris Stapleton Live in Concert (with Hank Williams Jr.) (2016) * Chris Stapleton's All-American Road Show Tour (2017–present) * A Concert for Kentucky, An Outlaw State of Kind Benefit (with

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

, and Madeline Edwards) (April 23, 2022) — the first-ever concert at

Kroger Field Kroger Field, also known as Commonwealth Stadium, is a stadium in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, located on the campus of the University of Kentucky that primarily serves as the home field for the Kentucky Wildcats football team. The stad ...

, home to

Kentucky Wildcats football The Kentucky Wildcats football program represents the University of Kentucky in the sport of American football. The Kentucky Wildcats, Wildcats compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...

Opening act

* Outsiders Tour ( Eric Church) (2015) * The Ashes and Dust World Tour (

Warren Haynes Warren Haynes (born April 6, 1960) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was ...

) (2015) * Not in This Lifetime... Tour (

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

; one date) (2016) * Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 40th Anniversary Tour (

; three dates) (2017) * An Evening With the Eagles (

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

; two dates) (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Chris 1978 births Living people 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American singer-songwriters American baritones American bluegrass guitarists American country guitarists American country rock singers American country singer-songwriters American male guitarists American male singer-songwriters American Southern rock musicians Bluegrass musicians from Kentucky Country musicians from Kentucky Grammy Award winners Guitarists from Kentucky Mercury Records artists Outlaw country singers People from Fayette County, Kentucky People from Johnson County, Kentucky People from Paintsville, Kentucky Record producers from Kentucky Rock musicians from Kentucky Singer-songwriters from Kentucky

Early life

Career

Career beginnings and bands

Solo studio albums

Other projects and collaborations

Artistry

Personal life

Awards

Discography

Tours and concerts

Main act

Opening act

See also

References

External links