Country star Zach Bryan revealed he quit drinking two months ago, after a 20-day motorcycle trip that left him thinking: ‘I really need some f***ing help.’
The 29-year-old has long been trailed by a ‘bad boy’ reputation that intensified last year when he split from his then-girlfriend Brianna ‘Chickenfry’ LaPaglia, who claimed he had been ‘cheating on me the whole time’ they were together.
A number of his songs have expressed his inner turmoil, such as Oklahoma Son, in which he asks a woman: ‘How’d you fall for a man I’ve grown to hate?’
Bryan, a U.S. Navy veteran, has also frankly discussed alcohol in his music, such as in his ode to a late friend called Jake’s Piano – Long Island, which includes the lyrics: ‘And I’ve been drinkin’ so much lately, it seems a damn double blade. ‘Cause when I’m drunk I dream you’re dancin’ down the shore.’
Now he has penned a lengthy and heartfelt Instagram message entitled ‘On mental health,’ baring his soul about the personal problems that drove him to drink and the thought process behind his decision to turn his life around.
He noted his years in the military and the ‘spotlight that I hadn’t fully comprehended the scope of,’ combined with his dread of displaying ‘weakness’ and a battery of personal crises that left him suffering ‘earth-shattering panic attacks.’
Country star Zach Bryan revealed he quit drinking two months ago, after a 20-day motorcycle trip that left him thinking: ‘I really need some f***ing help’; seen in 2024
‘Recently, I went on a motorcycle trip across the country. For 20 days, I camped and rode looking for a solution. At the end of this ride, I was sitting in a parking lot in Seattle, Washington thinking: “I really need some f***ing help,”‘ he wrote.
‘Being in the military for a decade and then thrown into a spotlight that I hadn’t fully comprehended the scope of, had some subconscious effects on me as a person. I was not content but I also feared showing weakness because that’s not who I am or how I was raised. To charge forward and to never settle was the motto.’
Bryan recalled being ‘stuck in a perpetual discontent that led to me always reaching for alcohol, not for the taste, but because there was a consistent black hole in me always needing its void filled.’
He laid out a string of personal woes, such as being ‘lied about and doxxed’ online and ‘helping a close friend through a severe mental break,’ while ‘one of my other best friends was put into a coma by a motorcycle accident,’ all as Bryan was ‘touring the country playing five, sometimes six nights a week.’Â
The Sun to Me singer confessed: ‘I was having earth-shattering panic attacks. The anxiety I felt was paralyzing and I thought since I was successful, had the money I always longed for, and had great friends, that I could tough anything out.’
He ultimately entered therapy and ‘made the concious [sic] decision to do something about my toxic relationship with booze and how I cope with major life changes.’
Bryan announced: ‘I haven’t touched alcohol for nearly two months now- something I had to do for my own personal clarity. I needed to see the world objectively.’
He gave credit to his family as well as to his current girlfriend Samantha Leonard, whom fans have noted bears a striking resemblance to his ex ‘Chickenfry.’
A number of his songs have expressed his inner turmoil, such as Oklahoma Son, in which he asks a woman: ‘How’d you fall for a man I’ve grown to hate?’; seen in 2024
Now he has penned a lengthy and heartfelt Instagram message entitled ‘On mental health,’ baring his soul about the personal problems that drove him to drink; seen in June
‘My family supported every step I took. Conversations about the future, kids one day, my health and Sammy’s happiness made me prioritize not only myself, but my entire family,’ he wrote in his new nstagram post.
‘I feel great, I feel content, I feel whole. There is nothing I need to get me by anymore. If you or any of your friends are too touch, too scared or too stubborn to reach out, know that the most stubborn dumba** on the planet did and didn’t regret it.’
He concluded: ‘I don’t believe in absolutes. One day maybe, I’ll learn to control my habits, but for now; I just want to say it is okay to be weak at times and need help. God speed everyone! I hope this helps somebody.’
Bryan’s touching post comes a month after he issued a statement responding to MAGA backlash over the anti-ICE lyrics of his new song Bad News.
The controversy flared up when Bryan posted a snippet of the song to Instagram, featuring the lyrics: ‘I heard the cops came. / Cocky motherf***ers, ain’t they? /Â ICE is gonna come bust down your door. / Try and build a house no one builds no more. / But I got a telephone. / Kids are all scared and all alone.’
He continued: ‘The middle finger’s rising, and it won’t stop showing. / Got some bad news: / The fading of the red, white and blue.’Â
Some fans delighted in the lyrics, while others flocked online to lambast him for attacking the Trump administration’s ICE raids targeting illegal immigrants.
‘We were just invaded by over 10 million illegal aliens and who does Zach Bryan cheer for? The illegals I smell a boycott brewing,’ wrote one, as another sneered that ‘the only thing fading is his career’ and a third opined: ‘Zach Bryan just Bud Lite’d himself.’
The 29-year-old has long been trailed by a ‘bad boy’ reputation that intensified last year when he split from his girlfriend Brianna ‘Chickenfry’ LaPaglia; seen in 2024
He gave credit to his family as well as to his current girlfriend Samantha Leonard, whom fans have noted bears a striking resemblance to his ex ‘Chickenfry’
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, under whose authority ICE operates, was asked about the song at a media briefing and issued her own condemnation.
‘Zach, I didn’t listen to your music. I’m happy about that today,’ she said. ‘That makes me very happy that I never gave you a single penny to enrich your lifestyle.’Â
As backlash mounted against him in early October, Bryan responded with a statement about how ’embarrassed’ and ‘scared’ he was at the response to the lyrics.
‘I posted this song three months ago as a snipped. This shows you how divisive a narrative can be when shoved through social media,’ he observed.
‘This song is about how much I love this country and everyone in it more than anything. When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle,’ he insisted.
‘Everyone using this now as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided, we all are. We need to find our way back,’ Bryan argued.
‘I served this country, I love this country and the song itself is about all of us coming out of this divided space. I wasn’t speaking as a politician or some greater-than-thou a**hole, just a 29-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else.’
He maintained: ‘To be clear, I’m on neither of these radical sides. To all those disappointed in me on either side of whatever you believe in just know I’m trying my best too and we all say things that are misconstrued sometimes.’Â
Bryan added a that the ‘s***’ that was ‘stirred up’ on social media over the song had left him feeling ‘not only embarrassed but kind of scared.’
The country star refrained from endorsing a candidate in last year’s election but praised Donald Trump for his reaction to his assassination attempt.
‘I don’t support Trump or Biden, but the man got shot in the ear, head… and then fist bumped in the air. That is sick, dude!’ he shared.Â
Early this year, Bryan posted an Insta Stories picture of himself at the Super Bowl alongside a grinning Trump and comedian Shane Gillis.
