Walker Hayes vividly recalls the moment he knew his drinking had gotten out of control, or at least one of the moments. The father of six was watching home videos with his family, and saw an interaction between him and his son, with Hayes’ eyes glazed over because he was so inebriated. For Hayes, it was an important wake-up call.
“It hurt, because I was looking at a picture of me and my son, and my eyes are glazed over,” Hayes recalls to Rolling Stone. “I was smiling, but I just wasn’t there.”
Hayes made the choice to get sober, one he almost gave up on when he had unexpected success with the viral hit, “Fancy Like.” All of a sudden, Hayes went from a struggling singer-songwriter to a cultural phenomenon, seemingly overnight.
“It was the greatest thing that ever happened in my career, but it was one of the biggest storms in my life too, because I didn’t know how to process it.,” Hayes admits, adding that it came on the heels of one of the most tumultuous times in his life.
“I have a daughter we lost three years prior, who was stillborn,” Hayes recalls. “And my dad died six weeks before we put ‘Fancy Like’ out. And then ‘Fancy Like’ was just this large stone that splashed into the lake of our life, and the ripple effect, honestly, was like nothing short of tragic.”
The Aftermath of “Fancy Like”
When “Fancy Like” became the hit heard around the world, it was a huge boost to Hayes’ career, but one that left him struggling personally.
“All of a sudden, you take this dad who’s very comfortable at home just writing songs and you put him in a suit, and you do his hair, and he’s walking red carpets with Machine Gun Kelly, and Cardi B’s introducing him? Hayes reflects. “There were times where I was like, ‘I would love to be hammered right now; I’d much rather be drunk at this award show because I am uncomfortable.'”
It was Hayes’ loyal wife, Laney, and some of his closest friends, who became his biggest supporters, even while miles apart.
“I’m not gonna lie, but there were many nights where I called my wife and I said, ‘Look, there’s a bar down at the hotel, there’s nobody there, and nobody would know,'” Hayes remembers. “There were many nights where I counted on my wife and friends to talk me through and say, ‘You will not regret it if you don’t have that drink. You will not regret it if you wake up tomorrow and don’t have that secret to keep.’”
Fancy Like Non-Alcoholic Beer
Hayes, who doesn’t shy away from talking about his sobriety, also just launched his own non-alcoholic beer, appropriately called Fancy Like, as a way to fill a space that he believes is needed in country music.
“There’s beer or whiskey in every single country song, and it’s almost like the furniture that goes in the house of a country song,” Hayes says. “And I think my role, or my calling, if you will, is to just be sober out loud, at least in our genre of music.”
“I don’t want to judge people,” he continues, “but I’m gonna have Fancy Like at all my venues, and I’m gonna promote it and say, ‘Hey, do you need this? It’s an option. I want to expose you to it. And it’s okay.’”
Hayes is proud of his Fancy Like beer, and proud to still be able to participate in the activities where beer is usually consumed, without having to compromise his hard-fought sobriety.
“It’s not a trigger for me to drink a non-alcoholic beer,” Hayes shares. “I don’t drink one and go, ‘Oh, this makes me really want to drink a real beer. I just like the taste of beer. And I like the activities that beer goes with, like baseball, golf, boating, bonfires, friends, family.”
Being Vocal About Sobriety
For Hayes, it’s an easy decision for him to talk about how he overcame his struggles with alcohol, not only for himself, but to help others who might also be struggling.
“I’m really vocal about my story, my struggle and my redemption from alcoholism, and I just want to give people hope, especially in my line of work, where it just kind of coincides with drinking,” Hayes says.
“I don’t want people to be in dark places alone because I know when I’m in those places, life is sad,” he remarks. “And when you’re doing something in the dark that you know isn’t good, it’s killing you. And I don’t want people to feel that way. That’s really why I still make music. Just to say, ‘Hey, out there. Are you okay? Are you good? Me too.’”
Hayes’ Same Drunk Tour kicks off this month. Find all of his music and upcoming shows at WalkerHayes.com.