Old Dominion‘s lead singer Matt Ramsey is opening up about his painful battle with depression. Ramsey reveals it was a series of injuries that caused him to spiral into an unhealthy mental space, one he has fortunately now recovered from, and is bravely sharing his story in hopes of helping others.
“I wasn’t able to give people what I felt they deserved.” Ramsey tells People, recalling when his physical pain prevented him from being energetic during his shows. Indeed, Ramsey had torn cartilage in his hip in 2018, a result of his onstage antics, plus a broken rib and punctured lung in 2021, which occurred when he fell from a 16-foot ladder, and a fractured pelvis in 2023 after he was in an accident while riding his ATV.
“It was like opening the door for all these negative thoughts,” Ramsey recalls. “I didn’t feel like a fun person to be around — I didn’t want to be around myself.”
The band’s success, including winning the most ACM Awards for Group of the Year, and numerous chart-topping singles, did little to assuage Ramsey’s personal pain.
“I felt very lost,” Ramsey acknowledges. “My dreams were coming true, and I wasn’t able to feel them.”
The physical pain had a direct impact on his emotional well-being, with devastating consequences for Ramsey.
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“I fell into the worst shape that I’ve been in in my life,” the 47-year-old says. “And started to show up during our shows. I was running out of breath. It was hard to sing. Everything that had broken was hurting, and I was exhausted after the show. I didn’t like how I looked. I didn’t like how I felt.”
For Ramsey, it seemed that there was no way out.
“I felt like I was buried underground . . . and I couldn’t get to the sunshine,” he now admits. “I began to feel that I was a drag on everybody and maybe I shouldn’t be around. It never got to the point of planning anything, but there was a nagging voice like, ‘Everyone would be better off if you were not here.’ And that’s an awful place to be.”
Fortunately, Ramsey found the determination to get better, thanks to his fellow bandmates. When Old Dominion began talking about a 2025 world tour, Ramsey realized he had come to a crossroads.
“I thought, ‘I cannot physically do that. There’s no way,'” he now recounts. “I could barely do two shows in a row with two weeks off. That’s when I started to go, “I better rein this s— in.”
The singer-songwriter tried ketamine therapy, an unconventional approach that for Ramsey worked wonders. He did six one-hour sessions in 2023, a decision that changed everything for him.
“I was a little scared,” Ramsey concedes. “I’d never done any recreational psychedelic drugs or anything. I was nervous. The first trip, I’ll say, was pretty crazy, and you wind up being completely detached from anything. I was suddenly an outside observer of my own self.”
“[It] turns your brain off so your body can see how to heal and starts rewiring pathways to heal trauma,” he adds.. “It was a gradual process of feeling able to be silly again and laugh and be in the moment.”
Ramsey, who still gets monthly injections, found that once he had his mental health in check, he was ready to also work on his physical body. He now works out regularly and meets with a nutritionist, losing 15 pounds of body fat.
“I’m not looking to be a bodybuilder,” Ramsey says. “I’m just looking to be as fit as I possibly can be so that I can handle the demands of the show.”
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this strong,” he says. “I feel mentally strong too. I feel really, really, really great. … My endurance is up, I’m sleeping better, and the shows are much easier. And I had to get all new clothes.”
Ramsey fought hard to come back from tough places mentally and physically. The result wasn’t just healing, but a new version of Ramsey as well.
“I came back to a me that I haven’t felt in decades,” the father of two says. “I’m able to feel the sun again.”
Find all of Old Dominion’s music and upcoming shows at WeAreOldDominion.com.