3 Little-Known Facts About Chris Stapleton, From Papa John’s Employee to Country Superstar

When Chris Stapleton joined Justin Timberlake on stage at the 2015 CMA Awards, it seemed like he’d become a superstar overnight.

But that’s not how the music business works. Many artists pay dues for years with the kind of anti-glamorous life more at home with Spinal Tap than awards shows. Imagine your favorite singer performing cover songs to an indifferent (and usually drunk) audience on Broadway in Nashville. Then, walking half a mile to load gear back into the car with barely enough money to fill the tank.

Those days are behind Stapleton. So to celebrate the singer with a big voice and an even bigger beard, here are three little-known facts about one of country music’s modern legends.

Slingin’ Pies for Papa John’s Pizza

Long before the hits, the awards, and the packed arenas, Stapleton had to hustle to pay the bills. He delivered pizzas for Papa John’s and played bar gigs at night. He said he didn’t think songwriting was “an actual job” and had supplemented his income at a pizza chain while chasing the dream. Though his days of counting delivery tips are over, Stapleton kept the name tag. “Every time I open my medicine cabinet, I see it as a reminder that I worked a lot of different things to be doing what I’m doing now,” he told CMT in 2013.

Singing in a Bluegrass and Rock and Roll Band

His bluegrass group, The SteelDrivers, formed in 2007 and reached No. 2 on the bluegrass charts twice. But Chris Stapleton left in 2010 to form a roots rock band called The Jompson Brothers. Though Stapleton’s rock band was well-received and toured with the Zac Brown Band, they released only one album. Then Stapleton split and went solo. Traveller arrived a few years later, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Adele Recorded a Chris Stapleton Song

Adele recorded The SteelDrivers song “If It Hadn’t Been for Love” as the B-side to her 2010 smash hit “Rolling in the Deep.” Chris Stapleton co-wrote it with then-bandmate Mike Henderson. Adele croons about all the foolish things love can make one do. Consider this a prelude to the revenge vibes of “Rolling in the Deep.” The song first appeared on The SteelDrivers’ self-titled debut. But Adele’s version transforms the original’s 1940s Appalachian folk into a smokey ’60s soul tune, feeling right at home as a bonus track on her pop blockbuster 21.

Never would’ve hitchhiked to Birmingham
If it hadn’t been for love
Never would’ve caught the train to Louisiana
If it hadn’t been for love

(Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for ACM)