In a revealing new interview, rocker Chris Daughtry admitted that after his rise to fame on “American Idol,” he spent years of his life “where I was never not high.”
In late September 2025, “Gym Rock Crew” podcast host Ramona released clips from her in-depth chat with Daughtry, 45, including one about how dependent he became on marijuana, and how it eventually backfired on him.
Chris Daughtry Says He Realized He Created ‘More Problems’ For Himself by Continually Getting High
Daughtry’s full interview on “Gym Rock Crew,” a podcast about rock stars committed to getting and staying healthy, is exclusively available on her Patreon channel. But in social media clips from the interview, Daughtry opens up about why he cleaned up his act after years of getting high.
“I went for, like, five or six years where I was never not high on marijuana or a gummy or some sort of edible,” the rocker admitted. “And it was like, ‘Oh, well it’s for anxiety.’ But then I found myself getting way more anxiety as soon as that would wear off.”
Daughtry, who placed fourth on season five of “American Idol” and went on to sell millions of albums, said he eventually realized he was “creating so many problems for myself” by convincing himself that getting high was a good escape or that he wrote his best songs under the influence.
“All these excuses and all these reasons why,” the three-time Grammy nominee said. “I just got tired of the inner dialogue, the backtalk from myself. I just decided one morning, ‘I want to not have these conversations anymore.’ I never looked back.”
Chris Daughtry Says Once He Stopped Getting High, He Decided to Become ‘Completely Sober’
Daughtry, who has transformed his body through a strict fitness and diet regimen, said on the “Gym Rock Crew” podcast that once he quit getting high, he focused on the natural high of feeling good and healthy for himself and everyone around him.
“My reason why had become strong enough that it outweighed any desire, excuse, or benefit that I perceived getting from it,” Daughtry explained. And the thought of just being completely sober from everything started looking more and more attractive to me.”
Daughtry explained, “I had separated myself from that identity that I created, started really identifying with the best version of myself. The idea of who I wanted to be started aligning with my actions.”
Those actions have included talking openly about the importance of mental health, including partnering with the nonprofit HeartSupport, dedicated to assisting music fans with finding resources and moral support as they navigate depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more.
In videos the organization released in August, Daughtry talked about his own struggles, including one in which he opened up about the guilt he felt after his stepdaughter died by suicide in 2021.
“One of the hardest things for me was the guilt and feeling like you could have done something,” he said. “The lies we tell ourselves, that ‘if I only did this, I could have prevented something.’ That is hard to deal with.”
Daughtry released its new album, “Shock to the System (Part Two)” in September and is on a U.S. tour through November, before kicking off a European tour in January 2026.
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