Craig Morgan might be known as a country music hitmaker, but he had an entirely different career first, in the military. Morgan served for almost a decade in the Army, later staying in the reserves for several more years. Although Morgan ultimately decided to pursue music instead, he is still profoundly grateful for his time in the U.S. Armed Forces, and has found that the two careers often intersect, sometimes in powerful ways.
“I was doing a show, and I had this service member in line,” Morgan recalls on Good Morning America. “He said, ‘I just wanted you to know, your music changed my life.’ He said, ‘I had my pistol in my mouth, and I was just about to pull the trigger, and the song ‘Almost Home’ came on the radio. I thought, ‘I’m not going to do this. I’m not.’ We both cried and I hugged him.”
Morgan might have had some trepidation about leaving a job he loved to pursue his passion, but any fears or misgivings vanished in one night, 14 years ago.
“It wasn’t until I was made a member of the Grand Ole Opry, in 2008,” Morgan says. “That was, for me, confirmation that I was part of this industry, and would be until I chose not to be.”
Morgan has had several hits at radio, including “Redneck Yacht Club,” “That’s What I Love About Sunday,” “Bonfire” and more. But his biggest hit, “The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost,” came from his biggest personal tragedy, when his son, Jerry, drowned in 2016.
“There was something so much bigger than me happening when I was writing that,” Morgan recalls. “I wrote that by myself, and then when I finished it I cried and cried.”
The song, released in 2019, landed at the top of the iTunes chart, thanks to Morgan’s good friend, Blake Shelton, who successfully launched a massive campaign to get the song heard.
“He said, ‘Don’t play my new single. Play this song by Craig Morgan,'” Morgan recalls. “That’s how much it affected him.”
Through all of the highs and lows of his life and career, the 58-year-old says all he has learned can be boiled down into one simple life motto.
“No matter what happens in our lives, we can still be good, and we can still do good,” reflects the singer. “It’s just that simple.”
Morgan’s God, Family, Country memoir will be out on September 26. He will embark on his God, Family, Country Tour on October 19. The tour will conclude with a special Veterans Day show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on November 11. Find music and tour dates, and pre-order God, Family, Country at CraigMorgan.com.