Chris Stapleton Recalls Being Rejected After Traveling to Nashville and the Broken Deal That Fueled His Career

No matter the artist or the genre, every singer knows the sting of rejection. Before playing in front of thousands of fans, stars were nothing more than dreamers hoping to capture the spotlight. And for country superstar Chris Stapleton, he remembers being a rising singer and trying to get noticed. Recently, he opened up about having to drive nearly four hours just to get rejected. Yet, knowing the power behind his voice, Stapleton admitted that the rejection only fueled his career.

Appearing on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, Stapleton recalled living in Kentucky at the time and having to drive to Nashville to play at The Bluebird Cafe. Although a small cafe in Nashville, the venue offered rising singers the chance to take the stage during open mic night in hopes of showcasing their music.

[RELATED: Chris Stapleton Admits to Feeling “Weird” at Willie Nelson’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction]

Chris Stapleton Thankful For The Rejection

Explaining his experience at The Bluebird Cafe, Stapleton said, “Sometimes people would be looking for talent in there, things like that. And so I drove three and a half hours, four hours, whatever it was down to put my name in the hat. You know, they’re supposed to let you get up, but if you don’t get up, they give you a special golden ticket or something and the next open mic night you get to do it.”

Expected to perform the following week, Stapleton was shocked when his chance never came. “I have a rule following bone in my head where like, this was the deal. We made this deal, and now you’re breaking the deal. It bothered me more that they broke the deal, that they broke the accord, than actually not getting to play. Because in my mind, I had driven four hours both times to go do that.”

Although Stapleton didn’t get a chance to perform, he believed the rejection helped fuel his determination. “I think everybody needs some of that, I think it’s healthy. It motivates in ways that just like, okay, I still believe in what I’m doing. I’ll show you.”

(Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)