Published by Cel Manero from Global One Media Inc.
Ashley McBryde spoke candidly in a recent interview with Bobby Bones.
Ashley McBryde Reflects on Four Years of Sobriety and the Struggles That Led Her There
This June, Ashley McBryde will mark four years of sobriety, a milestone she calls hard-earned. At the height of her rising career, McBryde found herself spiraling in ways few people—including her parents—were aware of, ultimately making a life-changing decision to reclaim control.
In a new episode of Bobby Bones Presents: The BobbyCast, she opened up about her journey to sobriety, describing the emotional and physical challenges she faced while keeping up the demands of her music career.
“When it went off the rails, it went off the rails in a big way,” McBryde admitted to host Bobby Bones. “For the last three years, I’ve had to say, I’m a drunk. I was good at hiding it. People would tell me, ‘I never really saw you as much of a drinker.’ But if you were around me before I got sober, I was drunk. I’m sorry for that.”
The Arkansas native explained that despite her struggles, she managed not to embarrass herself, her team, or the country music genre. However, it became increasingly clear that her addiction was worsening. McBryde would avoid drinking before shows, only to turn to alcohol to calm anxiety during meet-and-greets, then overindulge after performances.
“My brain would think, ‘You didn’t drink before the show, so now you have to drink as much as humanly possible,’” she recalled. “Not even my parents knew how bad it had gotten.”
McBryde described feeling anger at how alcohol had taken over her life, recognizing that entering treatment was the only path to survival. “I was going to die,” she confessed.
She recounted her initial reluctance to commit to treatment: “I kept thinking, ‘I can’t do this. I don’t know where I am. I can’t… Oh my God, I have to do this.’ I kept telling myself, ‘There’s no way I’m doing 30 days. That’s insane.’ But I realized I had to.”
Her wake-up call came after a night she barely remembered. She woke up in another artist’s home to find her team ready with an intervention, determined to ensure she got help before it was too late.
“I woke up in a bed that wasn’t mine, in pajamas that weren’t mine, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, that must have been a wild night. I’m thirsty, and I don’t know where water is.’ When I went to find water, I saw my team waiting in the living room,” McBryde recalled, tears in her eyes. “They told me, ‘We need you to stop.’ And I said, ‘I need me to stop too.’ That’s when I realized they had brought me there to make sure I didn’t die that night—and I didn’t.”