Bryan, who has released five studio albums since 2019, said the combination of sudden fame, a decade in the military and relentless touring left him overwhelmed.
WASHINGTON — Country star Zach Bryan says he has stopped drinking, telling fans he’s nearly two months sober after a yearslong struggle with anxiety, burnout and what he called a “toxic relationship with booze.”
The 29-year-old singer-songwriter shared the news Tuesday, in a lengthy Instagram post describing a 20-day solo motorcycle trip across the country that prompted him to seek therapy and reevaluate his lifestyle.
“At the end of this ride, I was sitting in a parking lot in Seattle, Washington thinking, ‘I really need some … help,”” Bryan wrote. “I was stuck in a perpetual discontent that led me to always reaching for alcohol, not for the taste, but because there was a consistent black hole in me always needing its void filled.”
Bryan, who has released five studio albums since 2019, said the combination of sudden fame, a decade in the military and a relentless touring schedule left him overwhelmed.
In the past year, controversy has dogged Bryan after his tumultuous breakup in 2024 with podcaster Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia and a video that surfaced in September of him getting into a physical altercation with Gavin Adcock, a rival musician.
While the controversies weren’t explicitly mentioned in Bryan’s post, the singer said he was also grappling with personal turmoil.
The Oklahoma native said he began experiencing “earth-shattering panic attacks” while touring “five, sometimes six nights a week.” Despite professional success, he said, he feared showing vulnerability.
“I thought since I was successful … that I could tough anything out,” he wrote. “All that said: I went out of my way to find a therapist and made the conscious decision to do something about my toxic relationship with booze.”
Bryan said he has not had a drink in nearly two months and credited conversations about his future, health and family with motivating the change.
“I feel great, I feel content, I feel whole,” he wrote. “There is nothing I need to get me by anymore.”
Bryan is dating a woman named Samantha Leonard, and said part of his decision was fueled by a desire to make her happy.
“Conversations about the future, kids one day, my health and Sammy’s happiness made me prioritize not only myself, but my entire family,” Bryan wrote.
He added that he hopes his post encourages others who are “too tough, too scared or too stubborn to reach out” for help.
In a caption accompanying the statement, Bryan said he was not seeking praise but wanted to be transparent about his mental health.
“I pray people don’t take this as me taking my blessings for granted,” he wrote. “I hope it helps someone struggling to find words when they’re down on their luck.”