Chris Stapleton Says The First Time He Was Starstruck Was Standing Next To Kris Kristofferson: “I Just Stood There & Stared Like An Idiot”

Even some of the biggest country music artists can still get starstruck when they meet the legends. Chris Stapleton certainly got starstruck when he met Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson early on in his career. He explained the story behind the time he was the most taken back being in the presence of a country legend when he was a guest on Lance Armstrong's The Forward Podcast earlier this week. The country singer made sure to point out that he can still get very starstruck to this day, but the most he's ever felt that way was when he came face to face with Kris Kristofferson at a special event at the Country Music Hall of Fame that a friend of his had asked him to tag along to: "First time I ever stood next to Kristofferson, there was this thing at the Country Music Hall of Fame. I show up and it's a who's who of Bluegrass - a bunch of killer players. There's probably 20 people sitting in a semi-circle in the Country Music Hall of Fame just taking turns picking a song and everyone's kind of playing along and jamming." To be a fly on the wall in that room... which I guess Stapleton sorta was at that point in his career. Chris continued telling the story, saying that they kept going around the semi-circle of chairs until a surprise was revealed for everyone in attendance: "There's an empty chair sitting there. When they get around to the empty chair, they say, 'Well we've got a special guest tonight. It's Kris Kristofferson.' Kristofferson comes out and says, 'Johnny Cash told me this was his favorite song,' and he played the song." Stapleton couldn't recall the song that Kristofferson performed, and who could really blame him right? He was probably floored to be in the presence of a country music great, and later on in the night as he was trying to say thanks to his friend before heading out, he found himself standing right next to Kris: "It's just me standing on the stage and all of the sudden, out pops Kristofferson. I'm standing next to Kristofferson and I'm just kind of looking at him... speechless. First time I'd ever really been star struck in that way. A lady came down and said, 'Mr. Kristofferson, you forgot your goody bag.' And he goes, 'Goody bag? That sounds like something illegal.' I just thought that was the coolest thing ever. I said nothing. I said nothing. I just stood there and stared at him like an idiot for I don't know how long. It felt like an eternity. But I was just standing on the stage and looking. That was the first time I ever felt really starstruck. I felt that way meeting Willie for the first time too." You can hear Stapleton talk in more detail about his encounter with Kris Kristofferson and his appreciation for country music greats in the interview below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqDTsQhWiIk