Jon Pardi is opening up about his decision to quit drinking. The father of two announced in 2023 that he had quit drinking, although he now admits he tried to pick it up again, in moderation. Fortunately, Pardi soon realized that alcohol needed to be cut out of his life, for good.
“I’m back. I jumped off the wagon and I’m back on it,” Pardi says on Amazon’s Country Heat Weekly podcast. “It gets even more crazy when you jump back in it. And for me, now looking back…you can see where the fluff in the neck was coming up. And I just don’t think my body can handle it no more. And now I’m looking good.”
Not only is Pardi done drinking, but the “Tequila Little Time” singer is also encouraging others to do the same.
“I always say this: if you’re thinking about not drinking, just try it,” Pardi urges. “Let’s see how it goes. I still won’t drink all the time, but my last name’s Pardi. There’s so many alternatives now, and I’m gonna tell you this, I’ve been a Michelob Ultra fan and they must have known. They’re like, ‘Oh, he is not drinking right now.’ They came out with a zero beer and it’s so good. It’s so good. So just having that taste of a beer, it really does help.”
“Some people kind of stay away from the non-alcoholics,” he continues. “But for me, I’m like, ‘I’m good.’ I can go to bars. I get upset if you don’t drink around me. It’s like, ‘Look, I am not here to be the party pooper. I’m here to party. I just may not be throwing up in the morning or the afternoon.'”
Pardi has been very open about his decision to quit drinking, and the positive ways it has changed his life for the better.
“[I] went back and dabbled with it again,” Pardi admits to People. “But now I’m just back to cutting it out. For me, it’s like ‘Am I better? Am I a better father?’ The positives are just so much bigger when I don’t drink. If something’s in your way and the better person is on the other side of it, then you get that thing out of the way.”
View this post on Instagram
Pardi just released his latest album, Honkytonk Hollywood. The 17-track record shows his growth and change as an artist because of his decision to cut out alcohol.
“There is less beer drinking and more soul searching on this record,” Pardi tells ABC News Radio. “And there’s a lot of songs about making love. Guess that’s where this one came into a new kind of thing. It’s like make a family, making babies, making people dance, still.”
The 39-year-old has a Top 25 hit with “Friday Night Heartbreaker,” the debut single from Honkytonk Hollywood. The video was filmed in Printer’s Alley in Nashville.
“Love this song. I remember when I first heard it,” Pardi recalls. “It kind of gives a spooky, sexy vibe. Somebody’s gonna break a heart tonight.”
Pardi will embark on his Honkytonk Hollywood Tour on April 25. Find the new record, and all of his music and upcoming shows, at JonPardi.com.