You Heard Chris Long Before You Knew Him
While the greater country music community got clued in to who Chris Stapleton was following his performance with Justin Timberlake at the 2015 CMA Awards, he had been Nashville’s secret weapon for years.
As a songwriter, Stapleton penned some of the biggest hits of the past decade, including Josh Turner‘s “Your Man” and Kenny Chesney‘s “Never Wanted More.”
Some Songs You’ve Heard Him On Before
As a singer, he was one of the most sought-after backing vocalists out there.
Now that Stapleton’s voice is one of the most recognizable in all of country music, people have started picking him out in other artists’ songs. One of his most well-known contributions as a backing vocalist was on Luke Bryan‘s “Drink a Beer,” which he also co-wrote.
Other than “Drink a Beer,” Stapleton’s voice can be found on Thomas Rhett‘s “Crash and Burn” and Jake Owen‘s “If He Ain’t Gonna Love You,” as well as a handful of Miranda Lambert tracks.
In fact, Stapleton has contributed backing vocals on three of Lambert’s studio albums: 2009’s Revolution, 2011’s Four the Record, and 2014’s Platinum. On Revolution, his contribution was on the track “Time to Get a Gun,” and for Four the Record, his vocals are showcased on “Nobody’s Fool,” which he also wrote.
His Most Obvious Miranda Collab Flew Right Past You
As for his contribution to Platinum, that came in the form of the album’s 15th track, “Hard Staying Sober.” The song features what are perhaps the most obvious vocal additions from Stapleton on any of Lambert’s songs. Anyone can tell that it’s him!
Of course, since most country fans didn’t know of Stapleton at the time, we bet many of you probably never realized that he was the one singing with Lambert on the song.
The two even performed the song live on one occasion. We dug up a video from that performance, which took place back in 2014, just a year before Stapleton’s breakout moment at the CMA Awards.
