During a recent chat with Audacy’s The Chet Buchanan Show, Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach opened up about their single with Carrie Underwood, “Leave A Light On.” A track that puts a spotlight on and is raising awareness for suicide prevention and mental health.
LISTEN NOW: Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach Visits 'The Chet Buchanan Show'
While Papa Roach might be celebrating 25 years together as band, as Jacoby expressed, “It blows my mind that we're still in the game. Still making an impact, still making music, still connecting the kids.” Well, Papa Roach’s newest single involves doing all three, with some help from an unexpected friend — Carrie Underwood.
Explaining how the team up even happened, the band’s frontman shared, “So, we heard she did an interview with our friend Jose Mangin on Octane and she was talking about her love for rock and metal music and she cited us. She said, ‘oh, I love, we love Papa Roach. We listen to them all the time at the house.’ And my friend sent me the interview like, dude, do you hear this? And I was like, 'oh snap,' like she's down.”
So we pulled through Nashville,” Shaddix continued his story, “we did a tour and invited her and her husband out to the show. They came out to the show, met them. And then soon after, me and my wife were in Vegas, we went out to go see Reflection, her show and I was just blown away.” Adding, “After the show, we were hanging out and my wife kind of just threw it out there… My wife was like, ‘oh, it'd be amazing if you got on a P Roach song, that would like blow my mind.’ and Carrie and I kind of looked at each other like that'd be kind of tight."
Contacting her team after that, Shaddix expressed they shared that they’d “been working with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention with the cause for this song and the message of the song,” Noting Underwood “instantly hit us back, and she's like, ‘I'm in, let's do it.’”
Singing about the topic of mental health isn’t something new for Papa Roach. As Jacoby noted, “I mean... we've been singing about it since the beginning. Our first song, ‘Last Resort’… that song was a cry for help.” He continued, “Music has been a way for me to deal with the traumas of my past, deal with the confusion, and wild ruckus that life can bring. And years later, we wanted to write a response to that cry for help, and so ‘Leave A Light On’ was born.”
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“Suicide is at a peak,” Jacoby went on to note, “it’s a leading cause of death in America. And we wanna use our platform to bring hope, you know, I think it's important to speak a message of hope to the people that —I’m here for you, I got your back. That's what the message of the song is, and that's what the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is all about. Their campaign is called Talk Away The Dark, and our song is called ‘Leave a Light On’. So it just fit like a glove.”
Sharing that The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will receive all royalties the song generates, Jacoby expressed, “I'm just so grateful that we found a cause that is in line with the message that we've been speaking about for so many years. I understand the darkness. I understand the struggle and I've used music as a way to navigate through that.”
To catch the entire conversation about the inspirational new single, listen to the interview above. Then, to hear “Leave The Light On” press play below.
Audacy's I’m Listening initiative aims to encourage those who are dealing with mental health issues to understand they are not alone. If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety, know that someone is always there. Additionally, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 988. Find a full list of additional resources here.
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