Chris Stapleton is a country superstar. The wickedly talented songwriter and musician writes great songs that blend American roots music with contemporary country. Add his growly, powerful voice, and you have a combination that's making country fans hungry for more.
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Here are 10 things you may not have known about Chris Stapleton.
5. He's written a ton of hits for other artists
Before he rose to fame with his own iconic voice, Stapleton wrote songs for Thomas Rhett, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Josh Turner and more.
4. The Kentuckian comes from a long line of coal miners
3. He was the lead vocalist of The Steeldrivers and the Jompson Brothers
Read More: Chris Stapleton Looks Completely Different Without His Trademark Beard
2. He once wrote a letter to Tom Petty defending country music
Back in 2013, the late music legend Tom Petty criticized modern country music in an interview with Rolling Stone.
"I hate to generalize on a whole genre of music, but it does seem to be missing that magic element that it used to have. I'm sure there are people playing country that are doing it well, but they're just not getting the attention that the shittier stuff gets," Petty told the magazine. "But that's the way it always is, isn't it? But I hope that kind of swings around back to where it should be. But I don't really see a George Jones or a Buck Owens or any anything that fresh coming up. I'm sure there must be somebody doing it, but most of that music reminds me of rock in the middle Eighties where it became incredibly generic and relied on videos. I don't want to rail on about country because I don't really know much about it, but that's what it seems like to me."
Shortly after, Stapleton reached out to Petty, who was a huge influence on him, via an open letter, inviting the singer to collaborate with him. Of course, this was two years before the release of Stapleton's breakout album Traveller. Stapleton would get a chance to share the stage with his hero before Petty's tragic death in 2017.
"I got to spend a few minutes with Tom, talking, and the last thing he said to me was, 'I hope we get to do more of this,'" Stapleton told Taste of Country. "I left there thinking that we would get to do more of it, and I'm so heartbroken and sad that he's no longer with us."
In 2017, Stapleton paid tribute to Petty with a stunning version of "Learning to Fly."
1. His wife, Morgane Stapleton, is an talented singer-songwriter
Morgane has written songs for Carrie Underwood, Trisha Yearwood, Lee Ann Womack and more.
