Kane Brown is bravely opening up about a topic many people, especially celebrities, are afraid to discuss. The country music superstar reveals his ongoing struggle with depression, something he battles every day.
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"The hardest thing right now is just because I'm going through it," Brown tells American Songwriter. "And I have a beautiful family that I need to be here for."
Brown and his wife Katelyn welcomed their third child, and first boy, last year. Yet in spite of his personal and professional success, the 31-year-old admits it does little for his mental health.
"I'm still haunted," Brown concedes. "I still have all these crazy feelings of hurting myself and doing the worst things. Money does not solve your problems."
"Haunted"
Brown's The High Road album came out earlier this month. Included on the record is "Haunted," a song he sings with Jelly Roll, about his struggle with depression.
"I hope it will give awareness to other people," Brown says. "One of the main things is actually talking about it. If you don't talk about it, that's what makes it dangerous. If nobody knows, nobody can help you."
Brown enlisted Jelly Roll, now close friends, to record the song, after Jelly Roll first wanted it for himself.
"You'll write songs, and you think that people will relate to them in one way, and then they don't even understand what you're talking about," Brown reflects. "To know that he really cares about the song that much means we did it right."
Polar opposites, Jelly Roll was the perfect person to join Brown on the deeply personal track.
"I'm not the biggest talker, so it's cool just being around him," Brown reveals. "He's just a giant teddy bear, really, that goes through the same stuff that I do."
"Haunted" is just one of the personal songs Brown recorded for The High Road. With this project, his fourth, Brown focused mostly on making it true to him.
"My mind was kind all over the place for this album," Brown acknowledges. "Then some part of me was like, 'Bro, you're Kane Brown, write what you want to write.' It was just a fun place, but for some reason, we felt like it all goes and is not too crazy, and it makes sense."
