Chris Stapleton Missed His Twins’ Birthday For The Grammys
The country singer spoke about sacrifice and work-life balance in his acceptance speech for Best Country Album.
Female artists with young children are frequently ridiculed for how the choose to balance their creative work with the work of raising a family. At the same time, male artists are often free to make career and parenting choices without comment. So it was very refreshing to hear country star Chris Stapleton speak candidly about the sacrifices that he and his family members make on behalf of his music at the Grammys this weekend.
Taking to the stage for his third win at the 64th Grammy Awards held in Las Vegas on Sunday, this one for Best Country Album, Stapleton said, “I’m a dad of five. Today’s my twins’ birthday. They’re four years old. So I’m thinking a lot about sacrifices because I missed out on some of their birthday today.”
“Everybody in this room has made some kind of a sacrifice to be up here doing this,” Stapleton continued. “I know it hurts sometimes, but hopefully we’re all doing it so that we make the word a better place and the people that live in it will love each other and have a good time together and come together.”
Stapleton, who attended the Grammys with his wife, Morgane Stapleton, is also father to a son, Waylon, and Daughter, Ada, in addition to their twns, Macon and Samuel. Their youngest, a boy whose name hasn’t been revealed, was born in 2019. Stapleton’s wife is also a musician, and often performs with her partner.
The pair’s older children, Waylon and Ada, attended the Academy of Country Music Awards in March with their parents, where their dad won Male Artist of the Year. In that acceptance speech, Stapleton acknowledged that it was his son Waylon’s thirteenth birthday and thanked his older kids for being understanding.
“I want to thank my kids who have to put up with me being gone quite a bit,” he said.
In addition to the Grammy win for his album Starting Over, Stapleton won Best Country Solo Performance for “You Should Probably Leave,” and Best Country Song for “Cold,” which he performed live at Sunday’s award ceremony.
In a backstage Q&A after the Grammys, Stapleton spoke of the pleasure of being able to perform again for a live audience, saying it’s “something that you can’t replicate over a Zoom call.” He also described the origins of the song “Cold,” saying it “very organically came out of just a jam backstage.”
“Those are the best moments sometimes for songs,” he added.
The twins were born in April 2018.
The Stapletons have historically been very private about their family life.
“I signed up for this, my children did not,” he told The Boot in 2019. “I am a very private person, and in that respect, I keep my children out of it. They’re children, and they deserve the chance to be children.”
If Stapleton continues to write and sing music of this caliber, it seems likely that one day his younger children will get to celebrate with their dad at an awards show. And who knows? It might even overlap with a birthday.
