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Chris Stapleton Recalls His ‘Favorite Musical Moment’

Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

Chris Stapleton was backstage at the CMA Awards Wednesday night (11/8) in Nashville, holding on to his seventh Male Vocalist trophy, and shared what he considers one of his most significant career moments. He cited a recent one: sitting beside, and performing with, Willie Nelson when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week (11/4).

Chris told us when asked about being a part of Willlie’s induction, “Well, that was an incredible thing for me to get the call from Willie to come and be a part of him inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’ve never been to any Rock and Roll Hall of Fame event.”

Stapleton recalled his day of the Rock Hall induction, telling us, “We rehearsed all the songs we were gonna do beforehand, and there was a moment that I had. We were seated, and Willie was sitting here (points), and I was sitting here (points), and Dave Matthews was over there giving a speech inducting Willie and going over his whole life, which is ninety years of Willie Nelson, there’s a lot to go over.”

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He continues, “And then he walked over and handed Willie the trophy in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and I’m still sitting here next to Willie Nelson, and then Willie goes on to give a speech about his life and his career. And then he leans over to me and says, ‘Alright, what song are we playing first?’ And I go, ‘Whiskey River,’ and we dove into it.”

Chris recalls, “It was one of my favorite musical moments maybe that I have ever had in my life. To sit there… The gravity of that moment… it didn’t hit me because, like I said, we go through these rehearsals, and everything is kind of out of order; you don’t know what’s happening. I was sitting there, and his sons were behind me, and it was just a wonderful moment to get to be a fly on the wall sort of sitting there alongside Willie Nelson, who is obviously a huge influence and a hero.”

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Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.

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Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group
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