Jamey Johnson Quit Drinking Cold Turkey Because Of His Daughter: “I Was Going To Be An Example To My Little Girl”

Quit cold turkey.

There are many sober faces in the country music world, or artists who have been very open when discussing their relationship with alcohol and other recreational drugs. Everybody’s story looks different, and some have one defining moment or a horrible performance because of overindulging, which has led them to be sober. Other artists have candidly talked about cutting back, perhaps putting down the bottle, but still enjoy an herbal remedy here and there.

The more artists talk about why they are going sober or are sober curious, the more you realize they are just like us. I think many people can relate to wanting to cut back or not knowing where to start, and the open dialogue that many artists have helped their fans.

While many reasons could lead to someone quitting drinking or other drugs, many artists often go cold turkey when there are kids involved. Famously, Waylon Jennings recalled knowing that he needed to change his wild outlaw ways, but a specific moment with his son, Shooter, made it snap in his brain that the answer was sobriety.

“He came over and sat down and put his arm through my arm and colored for about an hour or something like that, maybe more. That was the first time he was able to do that because I was so scattered all the time. I thought, ‘Well, this is it.”

While  Jamey Johnson‘s moment might not have been as extreme as Waylon Jennings’, his daughter is the reason that he got sober in 2011. In a recent interview with Big D & Bubba, Johnson detailed that when he became a full-time singer and songwriter, he found himself seeking the bottle more often than he had in the past.

“I was just a dad trying to pay bills myself. I had a young daughter, and doing whatever I needed to do to make ends meet. Just handling business, that’s all that it was. It was a struggle.

But at the same time, it was the first time in my life that I had a job I couldn’t be fired from. That is what I think led to drinking all hours of the day. You know, I used to only drink when I was played, and then I started playing every day, and then I started drinking every day. And when you can’t be fired, there’s no reason not to start at 10 am.”

Johnson candidly admits that it took him some time to realize he was not living a healthy lifestyle, and the driving force behind changing his ways was his daughter.

“It took me a while to kind of grow out of that phase. My daughter was 7 years old last time I had a drink. September 8th, 2011. The next day, I was just resolved, and I was done with it.”

Big D and Bubba asked Johnson if he had quit cold turkey, which he confirmed he had.

“Yeah. I didn’t need it anymore. I didn’t want it. Just like you have to wire up one of these mixing boards in here, you have to take that thing out of a place of pleasure and plug it into a place of pain. It’s not going to bring me the pleasure I used to get.

I realized I was going to be an example to my little girl, and what was I being an example of? I’m here to do way more important things than to get drunk.”

I am sure that Johnson’s daughter looked up to him before he got sober, and that admiration grew once he decided to stop drinking. I am sure there are many other parents out there who relate to Johnson’s realization and have taken similar action.

@bigdandbubba How Jamey Johnson got sober for his daughter… #jameyjohnson #sober #alcohol #fyp #fypシ @JameyJohnsonOfficial ♬ original sound – bigdandbubba

Jamey Johnson was also sober from marijuana for quite some time, but that all changed when he sat down to write “What A View.” Johnson disclosed that for a long time, without weed, he would convince himself that a song was not worth writing, but choosing to partake in the devil’s lettuce for that session released all those inhibitions. He felt like the songwriter he longed to be again.

“I didn’t smoke again until we wrote ‘What A View.’ When we sat down to write that song, I told you, we all knew a song was coming. The first thing I did was sit down and start thinking of reasons this song ain’t ever gonna fly. If you listen to the wrong voice, you are gonna get the wrong information.

And I was sitting there coming up with reasons why I didn’t want to write this song. I looked over and one of my dear friends had put a joint in an ashtray. I could see where this session was going anyway. So I went ahead and smoked one and started writing songs again. They came in like a flood after that.”

Some vices are meant to stay out of your life forever, and some are for just a period of time. I feel like I speak for the collective when I say that we are glad Johnson started indulging in some pot here and there because we are now getting loads of stellar new music from the legend.

@whiskeyriff “All the inhibitions had been lifted. There were no more restrictions.” // Check out the latest Whiskey Riff Raff podcast with @JameyJohnsonOfficial available now on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff #jameyjohnson #countrymusic #whataview ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff

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