10 Songs You Didn’t Know Chris Stapleton Wrote

Over the past 15 years, Chris Stapleton has ascended from his days as the mighty-voiced frontman and guitarist-writer for groups including the bluesy-bluegrass outfit The SteelDrivers and hard-charging rock group The Jompson Brothers to one of country music’s most formidable solo artists, having been nominated for the Country Music Association’s entertainer of the year trophy six times.

He’s also become an in-demand collaborator, for artists including Adele, Pink, Carly Pearce and Taylor Swift, known as a vocalist capable of extracting every ounce of emotion from a song.

2015 marked a breakthrough moment for Chris Stapleton’s solo career, when he teamed with Justin Timberlake for a collaborative performance at that year’s CMA Awards — performing a mashup of Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” with Timberlake’s “Drink You Away.” “Tennessee Whiskey,” a song previously recorded by both David Allan Coe and George Jones, would become a modern-day classic, thanks to Stapleton’s ruggedly soulful rendering.

“Tennessee Whiskey” helped propel Stapleton’s debut solo album Traveller to the peak of the Billboard 200 albums chart for two weeks, as well as a staggering 29 weeks at the pinnacle of Billboard‘s Top Country Albums. His followup albums From A Room, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, each also lifted to No. 1 on Top Country Albums, as did his 2020 album Starting Over. He’s earned two more No. 1 hits on Hot Country Songs, with “Starting Over” and “You Should Probably Leave.”

He’s taken home eight Grammy wins, as well as winning the CMA’s male vocalist of the year six times and the album of the year honor three times. He’s gearing up to release his latest album, Higher, on Nov. 10 and just issued his latest single, “White Horse.”

But before the sold-out tours, accolades and chart-topping solo hits, Stapleton had long been gaining traction in Nashville’s music industry circles as not only a peerless vocalist, but a top-shelf songwriter, writing hits for Kenny Chesney, Josh Turner, Sheryl Crow, Joss Stone, Alison Krauss & Union Station and many others.

Here, we look at some of the top songs Stapleton has written for other artists.