Chris Stapleton is known for his unmistakable, thousand-watt voice and singing searing songs such as “You Should Probably Leave” and “White Horse,” but it turns out the guy with the burly vocals is also pretty sentimental.
During an interview with actor Josh Brolin as part of Billboard‘s 2025 Country Power Players cover story, Stapleton took Brolin into the space where he keeps a massive collection of guitars. While Stapleton does show some impressive axes such as a guitar that once belonged to Waylon Jennings (a gift to Stapleton from his wife and fellow musician, Morgane), he pulls out another guitar in his collection to show to Brolin — one he considers irreplaceable.
“This is the guitar that I bought when I moved to town, when I moved to Nashville,” Stapleton said, removing a well-used, scratched up acoustic guitar from its case.
“If I had to walk out of here with one thing, it would be this,” Stapleton said. “All the other stuff, I would be sad about a lot of it, but whatever I’ve done, whatever I’ve made, has pretty much been built on this thing. I would say 90% of the things I’ve written in my life has been on this guitar.”
That’s quite the statement, considering that not only has Stapleton written hits recorded by himself, but also hits recorded by artists including Josh Turner, Kenny Chesney and George Strait.
“It’s not precious in a collector way to anybody because it was in a flood at some point,” Stapleton said. “There’s mud inside it, somebody used it as a canoe paddle, there’s a million crack repairs. Yeah, if I were to walk out of here with one thing, if you want to know what’s the most important thing, it’s probably this.”
Elsewhere in the wide-ranging interview, Stapleton discusses the importance of family, the origins of his friendship with Brolin, and the actor even discovers how Stapleton likes his Hattie B’s Hot Chicken order.
Watch the full video interview between Stapleton and Brolin above.
