Justin Moore is opening up about his time in rehab, and what led him to seek help. Moore spoke about his drinking and recovery on a recent episode of Tracy Lawrence‘s TL Road House podcast.
Surprisingly, the 42-year-old spent most of his adult life without struggling with an addiction to alcohol.
“I didn’t drink until I was 21,” Moore says (via Country Now). “Don’t ask me how or why. And then, for almost 20 years, I never had any issue whatsoever. And then COVID hit, and we were doing our podcast at the time and literally nothing else. And man, idle hands are the devil’s workshop is a real thing. And a drink at 5:00 turned into three at noon. And then before you know it, it’s all day, every day. And not even really getting smashed, or just constantly having a cocktail. And it started affecting my life.”
Fortunately, Moore realized he needed to get help before his drinking got too out of control.
“I came home one Sunday as we do every Sunday, usually on the bus…And I walked straight upstairs, told my wife, ‘I got to go get help. I just got to do it. I have to do it,'” he recalls. “And it wasn’t fun. I mean, I don’t know if you’ve ever done anything like that, but it wasn’t fun. But I just looked at it like a business trip.”
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What Justin Moore Says About Going to Rehab
Moore went to a 30-day rehab, where he did the hard work on himself, not that it was easy. Still, Moore is grateful that he went to rehab, and is now proudly sober.
“It was awful,” Moore admits. “I’m telling you, freaking awful, just the emotional rollercoaster and the purging of all that stuff. And because you get to a certain place in life where you’re dealing with some things and you’ve got these issues and you’re masking them, sometimes it’s so far buried back that you don’t even remember why you started. And you don’t even know.”
What Led Justin Moore to Go to Rehab
When Moore took some time away, he just said that he was focusing on his health. It wasn’t until he returned to touring that he revealed he had just gotten out of rehab.
“I know some of you have probably seen — I know there’s a sign over here that says ‘Welcome back’ — that we’ve been off a while, and there was a lot of speculation, but my drinking got out of control,” he announced (via People). “I let down my band and my crew and most importantly God, my family.”
“I just became a complete dumba–,” he continued. “I just got out of rehab for 30 days. This is my 31st day sober. And I’m gonna try to help as many people from this point forward until my last days on earth, and hopefully set a much better example for my kiddos.”
The Result of Justin Moore Going to Rehab
The timing of Moore’s decision to go to rehab wasn’t exactly ideal, since he was supposed to be opening for Riley Green on Green’s Cowboy As It Gets Tour. Still, for Moore, he is a much better version of himself, in every way, than before he got help.
“I’m singing better,” the Arkansas native boasts. “I remember the shows. And again, it wasn’t constant with me. It was just that one night where you go, ‘I didn’t do my best.’ And these fans, man, they deserve our best. And I lost sight of that for a little while, and I’m not ashamed to admit it…There was a lot of the therapy stuff. But fortunately, it was only once a week. But I mean, it helped. I mean, I’m not going to lie and say it didn’t.”