Mark Chesnutt Comes Clean About Battles with Alcohol

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photo: David “Doc” Abbott


We almost lost Mark Chesnutt, and a couple of times, and for multiple reasons. And that would have been a devastating loss for country music. Not only is Mark Chesnutt a ’90s country hero up there with some of the best of the era, he’s also been one of country music’s most staunch and important traditionalists over the years, holding the line against the onslaught of country pop. Mark Chesnutt defined the true compass point of country music for decades.

But in late November of 2023, Chesnutt was forced to cancel multiple shows, and was in the hospital getting tests for undisclosed reasons. To be frank, it didn’t look good. Saving Country Music got word that there was a chance Mark Chesnutt might not pull through. An Ode To Mark Chesnutt was published in hopes it wouldn’t be an epitaph. Luckily, Chesnutt pulled through. Now he’s coming clean about the health and alcohol battles he’s been waging publicly and privately for many years.

It all started when the Beaumont, TX native was in his early 20s and he fractured his spine. “In them days, they didn’t know how to fix it, and I couldn’t fix it, so I just lived with it,” Chesnutt says. But in 2021, his back problems caught up to him, forcing him off the road to have necessary surgery. At first the surgery seemed to have worked somewhat, but then complications set in. Mark began losing the ability to walk, and fell down and escalator at the airport in Houston.

This forced Chesnutt to have another surgery that involved doctors scraping scar tissue off of his nerves, and installing two titanium rods in his back. Then the necessary rehabilitation after the procedure was put on hold due to the pandemic. “My surgery was a major major one. I couldn’t work. I was laid up, didn’t drive, couldn’t walk, couldn’t do anything.”

And so he drank. He drank because he couldn’t do anything else. He drank to cope with the pain. Chesnutt tried to return to touring to put some purpose back into his life, but his back wasn’t healed yet, and his alcoholism was raging. He would lose his balance and fall frequently. As the troubles and pain got worse, so did the drinking. Chesnutt was afraid of going to rehab, because he didn’t want the public who was already curious from canceled tour dates to find out about his drinking problem.

But when it got so bad there was no other choice, his wife called an ambulance. Chesnutt needed four blood transfusions just to keep him alive. He was bleeding internally. Doctors said he only would have lived a couple more days without seeking treatment. “I had to quit drinking or die,” Chesnutt says. So on November 1st, 2023—a few days before Saving Country Music penned its ode to the country legend—he took his last drink.

It’s not hard to understand why Mark Chesnutt didn’t want to public to know about his battles with alcohol. Similar to his back problems, he’d been told to grin and bear it. That’s the macho, Texas, country music way. Amid all the show cancellations in 2023, the reasons given were simply “undisclosed.” But here in 2025 with his sobriety well under control and a bright future ahead, Mark Chesnutt is leveling with the fans that have stuck by him through the years.

“I’m back and doing better than ever,” Chesnutt says. “My diet is better. I’m more active, and I feel better than I did in my 30s. I’m excited about the whole process of going on the road. I’m excited every night to go on stage. I have the energy I wish I had throughout the ’90s.”

Incidentally, the 61-year-old also just announced a slew of new tour dates, including on the “Rock The Country” touring festival. You can see the dates below.

Mark Chesnutt has always taken his role in country music seriously. Recently, he’s given his blessing to the new up-and-coming performers carrying on the 90s country sound Chesnutt helped define, including Zach Top and Jake Worthington. But if Chesnutt has his way, he won’t be fading off in the sunset anytime soon. He’s got a new lease on life, and right when many country fans are once again reconnecting with the Chesnutt catalog.

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Mark Chesnutt Tour Dates:



May 10 – Ocala, FL – Florida Horse Park (Rock The Country)

May 23 – Katy, TX – Mo’s Place

May 24 – Buda, TX – Buck’s Backyard

May 25 – Bandera, TX – 11th Street Cowboy Bar

May 30 – Columbus, OH – The Bluestone

May 31 – York, PA – York Fairgrounds & Expo Center (Rock The Country)

June 6 – Elizabethtown, KY – Historic State Theater

June 7 – Benton, KY – The Kentucky Opry

June 14 – Hastings, MI – Barry Expo Center (Rock The Country)

June 19 – Lawton, OK – Apache Casino Hotel Event Center

June 20 – Little Rock, AR – Arkansas State Fairgrounds (Rock The Country)

June 21 – Sesser, IL – Sesser City Park

June 26 – Ponaka, AB, Canada – Ponoka Stampede & Exhibition

June 28 – Moose Jaw, SK, Canada – Moose Jaw Event Center

June 29 – Dauphin, MB, Canada – Dauphin’s Countryfest

July 11 – Roanoke Rapids, NC – Weldon Mills Theatre

July 12 – Ashland, KY – Boyd County Fairgrounds (Rock The Country)

July 18 – Eau Claire, WI – Country Jam USA

July 19 – Sioux Falls, SD – WH Lyon Fairground (Rock The Country)

July 25 – Macon, GA – Atrium Health Amphitheater

July 26 – Anderson, SC – Anderson Sport & Entertainment Center (Rock The Country)

Aug 2 – New Braunfels, TX – Whitewater Amphitheater

Aug 8 – Batesville, MS – Batesville Civic Center

Aug 9 – Jeffersonville, IN – RiverStage

Aug 15 – Fruita, CO – James M. Robb, Colorado River State Park

Aug 23 – Canton, GA – Etowah River Park

Sept 6 – Van Alstyne, TX – Downtown Stage

Sept 13 – Temple, TX – MLK Festival Grounds

Sept 27 – Christoval, TX – Cooper’s Bar-B-Q

Oct 22 – Shipshewana, IN – Blue Gate Performing Arts Center

Oct 23 – Clarksburg, WV – The Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center

Oct 25 – New Philadelphia, OH – Performing Arts Center at Kent State Tuscarawas




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