Brantley Gilbert has been alcohol and opiate free for over five years and one of the major factors that led to him going to rehab was the tough love of those around him. Brantley says, “Basically, you hear your whole life, people will tell you that the people that are closest to you, you know, will be with you through anything, will never leave. I found out that that’s not the case, at all. Some of the people that love me and cared about me the most were people that said, ‘You know what man, if that’s what you’re about, if being who you are and running with that crowd, the route you’re on, if that’s what you’re about right now I can’t be about it with you.’”
Brantley’s wife, who was his girlfriend at the time, couldn’t watch him destroying his life, and he was missing out on getting to see other people in his life, like his God kids. He says, “My two God kids, the closest thing I ever thought I’d come to kids were my God kids, and I mean I love my God kids more than words. I wasn’t gettin; to see them. I didn’t see my mom a whole lot because she knew, you know she could tell. Stayed mad at my dad. People that were really close to me that cared about me I just pushed away and other people that knew what was going on said ‘Man, no, just no.’”
Fortunately that tough love worked and Brantley broke his addiction cycle. Now he’s enjoying his latest top ten single with “The Weekend,” and he’s getting ready to launch the summer leg of The Devil Don’t Sleep Tour on June 2nd.
Brantley Gilbert – experiencing tough love :50
“Basically, you hear your whole life, people will tell you that the people that are closest to you, you know, will be with you through anything, will never leave. I found out that that’s not the case, at all. Some of the people that love me and cared about me the most were people that said, ‘You know what man, if that’s what you’re about, if being who you are and running with that crowd, the route you’re on, if that’s what you’re about right now I can’t be about it with you.’ And I mean, my two God kids, the closest thing I ever thought I’d come to kids were my God kids, and I mean I love my God kids more than words. I wasn’t gettin; to see them. I didn’t see my mom a whole lot because she knew, you know she could tell. Stayed mad at my dad. People that were really close to me that cared about me I just pushed away and other people that knew what was going on said ‘Man, no, just no.’”