Chris Stapleton
Christopher Alvin Stapleton[1][2] (born April 15, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and the husband of Morgane Stapleton (née Hayes). He was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and grew up in Staffordsville, Kentucky. In 2001, Stapleton moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to get an engineering degree from Vanderbilt University, but dropped out to pursue his career in music. Subsequently, he signed a contract with Sea Gayle Music to write and publish his music.[3]
Chris Stapleton
Christopher Alvin Stapleton
April 15, 1978
Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
- Singer-songwriter
- musician
- record producer
- Vocals
- guitar
2001−present
As of 2018, Stapleton has written and co-written over 170 songs.[3] He has co-written six number-one country songs,[4] including Kenny Chesney's five-week number-one "Never Wanted Nothing More", Josh Turner's "Your Man", George Strait's "Love's Gonna Make It Alright", and Luke Bryan's "Drink a Beer".[5] His songs have appeared on many artists' albums including Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, and Taylor Swift.[6] He has co-written with several artists as well, including Vince Gill, Peter Frampton, Sheryl Crow, and Ed Sheeran.[7]
As a vocalist, Stapleton sang lead in two bands before he started recording as a solo artist including a bluegrass ensemble from 2008 to 2010 called the SteelDrivers and the Jompson Brothers. After that, he released his solo debut: the critically acclaimed studio album titled Traveller (2015), which reached number one on the US Billboard 200 and was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His version of "Tennessee Whiskey" was certified Diamond by the RIAA. His second studio album From a Room: Volume 1 was released in May 2017, and earned him a second CMA Award for Album of the Year and also a Grammy Award for Best Country Album. From a Room: Volume 2 was released in December 2017. Stapleton released his fourth studio album Starting Over in 2020, for which he won his third Grammy for Best Country Album. The title track was issued as its lead single.
Stapleton has been recognized with several awards including 10 Grammy Awards, 11 Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards, and 15 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. He was named the ACM's Artist-Songwriter of the Decade.[8] In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Stapleton at number 170 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[9]
Early life[edit]
Stapleton was born in Lexington,[10] Kentucky. His mother, Carol J. (Mace) Stapleton, worked at the local health department and his father, Herbert Joseph Stapleton Jr. (1946–2013),[11][12] was an engineer in the coal mines. He comes from a family of coal miners.[13][14] He has an older brother, Herbert Joseph III and younger sister, Melanie Brooke.[15][16]
Stapleton grew up in the small town of Staffordsville, Kentucky, which is located just outside of Paintsville, located between the city and the Paintsville Lake.[13] He graduated from Johnson Central High School where he played football and was class valedictorian. He then attended Vanderbilt University, where he studied engineering, but dropped out after a year.[17][18]
Music career[edit]
Career beginnings and bands[edit]
In 2001, Stapleton moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a music career. As a songwriter, he signed with the publishing house Sea Gayle Music, a deal he got shortly after moving to Nashville.[19]
In 2007, he became the frontman for the bluegrass group the SteelDrivers. They had two hit records; each peaked at number 2 on the bluegrass chart before Stapleton left in 2010.[20]
In 2010, Stapleton founded a Southern rock band called the Jompson Brothers.[21] The band was made up 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.[22] The band independently released a self-titled album in November 2010.[23]
In 2013, Stapleton signed to Mercury Nashville, a division of Universal Music Group Nashville, as a solo artist.[24][25] His first single, "What Are You Listening To?", was released in October 2013, but did not perform as expected.[26] The single was part of a record that was recorded, but never released. Stapleton also cowrote the theme—"All-Nighter Comin'"—to the WSM-AM show The WSM All Nighter with Marcia Campbell, an American radio show with a large trucker following. He cowrote the song with Vince Gill and Al Anderson, with Gill featured on vocals on the track.[27] Songs written by Stapleton have been included on to the soundtracks of several feature films, including Valentine's Day,[28] Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip,[29] and Hell or High Water.[30]
In 2013, Stapleton and his wife Morgane sang the Waylon Jennings song "Amanda" live at the Grand Ole Opry.[31] They also did an NPR Tiny Desk Concert in November 2015.[32]
At the 2014 CMT Artist of the Year event, Stapleton performed with Lady A, who played Stapleton's song, "Drink a Beer", which Luke Bryan had recorded, in honor of Bryan, who was unable to attend the ceremony due to a death in his family.[33] Stapleton had previously sung it during Bryan's 2013 CMA Awards performance of the same song.[26]
Artistry[edit]
Stapleton's musical influences range from outlaw country and bluegrass to rock and roll and blues.[83] Editors from NPR and Paste magazine described his sound as a blend of country, classic rock and Southern soul.[84][85] Before going solo, Stapleton led the progressive bluegrass band the SteelDrivers and the rock and roll band the Jompson Brothers.[86] His first solo album Traveller is an old-school country, Southern rock and bluegrass record,[87][88] and his second From A Room: Volume 1 focuses on country, blues and roots rock.[89] He played the acoustic guitar and electric guitar for both albums.[90][91]
Stapleton is a soul singer[92] with a tenor vocal range. After attending one of his concerts in 2015, Los Angeles Times' writer Randy Lewis opined his singing recalls "the note-bending style of country that traces to Merle Haggard and Lefty Frizzell and the gut-wrenching expressionism of blues and R&B perfected by Ray Charles", while his guitar performances elicits "memories of Texas blues rocker Stevie Ray Vaughan".[93] Stapleton has cited Charles, Otis Redding, and Freddie King as some of his music influences,[94][95] along with Kentucky-based country artists, Keith Whitley, Dwight Yoakam and Patty Loveless: "the list goes on and on. Those names are just part of life in Kentucky. You can't help but be aware of them and be influenced by them."[10]