Cody Johnson is far from an overnight success story, at least outside of his home state. The prison guard turned performer spent years building his career in Texas, where he was born and still lives today. He could have continued making a decent living in the Lone Star State, but he wanted a bigger, more substantial career, one that allowed him to still be authentically himself.
“I grew up in a culture in Texas where we were used to the word no,” Johnson shares. “You’re just a cowboy hat, you’re just Texas, you’re just this. And there was a lot of discussion with myself and my brain of, what is the goal? And I think over time, my goal became, let’s build the bridge. Let’s prove that in country music, you can come from anywhere. You can be from any orientation or any color. You can dress any way you want, and you can cross the bridge, because the bridge that I crossed and left intact is still intact.
“And I want people to know that bridge is not burned the way that it used to be,” he adds. “Let’s go. Let’s bring it to country music. We are a very versatile genre.”
Why Cody Johnson Signed a Record Deal
In 2019, Johnson released Ain’t Nothin’ To It, his first record on a major record label. Johnson just took home the CMA Award for Male Vocalist of the Year, later reflecting on why he made the move from independent to signed artist.
“After ten years as an independent artist, I was never at the point that I wanted to be,” Johnson shared backstage at the CMA Awards. “I got told no so much. No to the cowboy hat, no to the fiddle. No to the steel guitar. There were a lot of cowboy hats and fiddles and steel guitars here at the CMAs tonight. I think that, at this point in my career, I don’t know where I’m supposed to be. I’m really trying my best to trust God, trust His path for me.”
@everythingnash @Cody Johnson talks about his career after winning the Male Vocalist of the Year at the #cmaawards. #countrymusic #codyjohnson ♬ original sound – EverythingNash
Cody Johnson’s Current Single, “The Fall”
Johnson currently has a Top 20 single with “The Fall.” The song, written by Bobby Pinson, Jeremy Stover, and Ray Fulcher, is on his Leather Deluxe Edition album.
“I was in the mode of cutting an album, and saying, ‘This is what I want people to hear,’” Johnson says. “I want people to know that the ride is worth the fall, the hardships, the things that you can look that, yeah, it feels like hell when you’re going through the hardships. When you look back at them, without those hardships, you wouldn’t have the successes that you have, and you wouldn’t appreciate them as much.”
Johnson will get plenty of opportunity to perform “The Fall,” “Travelin’ Soldier,” his “When A Cowboy Prays” collaboration with Brandon Lake, and other songs on the road this year. After canceling the remainder of his 2025 tour dates to have emergency surgery to repair a ruptured eardrum, Johnson just announced his 2026 tour dates. He will be joined on tour by Clint Black, Scotty McCreery, Jon Pardi, Alexandra Kay, and others.
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Photo Credit: CMA / Acacia Evans