But Hayes, who spoke withSouthern Living, doesn’t want you to think it was an overnight success.
That’s not his story.
While he struggled to find his footing over the next decade, his responsibilities multiplied.
Credit:JCPenny
The young couple welcomed six children: Lela, Chapel, Baylor, Beckett, Loxley, and Everly.
Hayes explained their large family by saying, “We love the chaos.
We love kids so much.”
Credit: Robert Chavers
But that didn’t mean things were easy for the Hayes family.
Those first years in Nashville were what he referred to as “an abusive environment.”
“I had been rejected four or five times a year at a major public level.
Credit: Robert Chavers
I was working at Costco looking other music business people in the face every day.
Things were just as difficult with their families back in Alabama.
“Our families had really become quiet.
Credit: Jeff Kravitz / Contributor/Getty
or ‘when are you coming home?’
And if they didn’t say it, you could read it on their faces.
So sadly, Laney and I were just getting more and more in that island of isolation.”
To cope with this, Hayes turned to drinking.
He has been very open about his alcohol abuse.
It even inspired his second big hit, “AA.”
But he spent many years as what he has called a “high-functioning alcoholic.”
“They see us on this side of a lot of ugliness.
They see us in recovery…
They don’t see that stuff.
They see the healing and they see what God can do.”
He and Laney lost their seventh child, Oakleigh, at birth.
It’s a moment he now recognizes as a “real test down here on earth.”
He described it by saying, “Just holding a lifeless child.
I can’t imagine a worse pain.”
He admits that for a moment, his sobriety was in jeopardy.
“I’d been sober for three years when we lost Oakleigh.
I was ready to not be.
As soon as that happened, I was like, this is why you drink.”
But something else happened for Hayes when he lost his youngest child.
“When we lost Oakleigh, I would have called myself an Atheist,” he said.
He grew to resent it.
But when faced with a kind of grief he’d never experienced before, things began to change.
“I think I found out in a roundabout way that I was screaming at somebody.
I would have called myself Atheist, but I was looking for someone to blame.”
But it wasn’t just one thing that suddenly brought him to church.
He connected with Craig and said he didn’t feel judged or pushed to become a Believer.
It was a gradual process.
“Craig’s a preacher but outside of church I never heard him preach,” he said.
Hayes also spoke about how The Coopers walked with him and Laney through their pain and loss.
He was realizing that he was being embraced and supported by this new community.
But the final push came while reading a book late one night on his tour bus.
I finished it by the time the sun came up.”
And slowly, his faith was restored.
“I know for some reason losing Oakleigh led me to Christ.
I would not know Jesus if I had not known the loss of my daughter.
That’s what it took for me.”
“Losing Oakleigh granted me the knowledge of how much control I do not have.
If you follow Hayes onsocial mediayou can tell that he does practice what he preaches.
Every ounce of his life is spent with his kids and his wife.
They are involved in all aspects of his career from music videos to accompanying him on tour.
The father of six is living in the moment with and for his family.
Hayes says that this mentality also impacted his approach to finding professional success.
“It’s had an impact on what I see the purpose is in my career.
It’s had an impact on how I write.”
It turns out that this newfound way of life has served him well.
It may have taken a long road to get here, but Walker Hayes is just getting started.
