[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Dreams came true for country singer Chase Bryant faster than he expected. At just 21, he already bagged two Top 10 singles and even toured with the likes of Brantley Gilbert and Tim McGraw. But all of this success came in with a hefty price, and that was his happiness and, ultimately, his self.
In an interview with Chase Bryant, he opened up that he was no longer chasing happiness, only success. He did what he was told; he became someone they wanted him to be. At that time, it was easy for him because he had never felt overflowing gratification from the people around him. As a child, he used to be bullied a lot, and he really had no friends to count on.
And as he tried to push back from the expectation of playing a character that he could never live up to, he succumbed into a dark, empty space.
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Hitting rock bottom, he loaded a .357 revolver, drove to a gas station parking lot, and shot himself. But it seemed like the divine intervention he was begging for before he pulled the trigger gave him a second chance. When he opened the cylinder, he was surprised to see only five bullets instead of six, and the empty chamber had spared him his life.
After that, he left Nashville and worked his way through the long and arduous path of recovery. And now, with his album Upbringing, he is introducing to the world an authentic version of himself. Bryant said that he wanted himself and his music to be that empty chamber for somebody else. He wanted to help people realize that the fight is not theirs alone.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
