Could you imagine mistaking the iconic Chris Stapleton for someone else?
Nowadays, with Stapleton being one of the brightest stars in country music, it feels like that would be hard to do. But in Stapleton’s early days, specifically when he was with a band called The SteelDrivers, the Kentucky native apparently got mistaken for a number of other bearded artists.
Nowadays, burley dudes with a beard are confused for Chris… funny how that works, eh?
Back in May, Stapleton stopped by The Jennifer Hudson Show, and the two artist exchanged stories about how they’ve been mixed up with other artists. The “White Horse” singer said that his best story came back before his country music career really took off, but right as he was starting to get his break in the music industry:
“I’ve had people have whole conversations (thinking I was someone else). One time at the Grammys, the first time I ever went to the Grammys, I was in the line. And I was in a band called The SteelDrivers. There’s a line to get in. It doesn’t matter who you are. You’re walking into the building, they herd us in there.”
Stapleton was very adamant in telling Hudson and the audience that there’s a line to get into the Grammys.
He went on to say that while he was in that line, someone came up to him and gushed over how much he loved “his” music:
“Some guy just starts losing his mind. He’s like, ‘Man I love your music so much.’ And I was in a band called The SteelDrivers at the time. It was the first time we had ever been nominated for anything. It was a bluegrass band. Nobody knew who we were at the moment.
He just kept going on and on and I was like, ‘Man you don’t even know who I am, do you?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re in Lynyrd Skynyrd, aren’t ya?’ I’m like, ‘No, that’s not me, but thank you’ and I went on.”
Hilarious… though now I am interested in hearing how Stapleton would sound with Lynyrd Skynyrd (I’d imagine he’d be incredibly great). The country star brushed the mix up off, but he clearly still gets a kick out of telling the story. He also says him and Jamey Johnson are commonly confused for each other too.
You can watch the full clip of the comical anecdote below: