Country duo, Dan + Shay, are keeping things real as they recently revealed they nearly called it quits following their 2021 arena tour. The duo got candid in a YouTube video posted to their account where the pair vulnerably discuss the darkness they faced individually and as a band just two years ago, and what pulled them through.
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"I was in the lowest low of my entire life," Dan Smyers recalled. "Came off the road and I was like, 'Man, I f***ing hate music. I'm ready to quit.'"
Shay Mooney boldly added, “I could feel the separation and I think there was little things between you and I that we never talked about and it was affecting everything. Not just our band — our marriages, everything. I was in a really dark place."
Looking back, the pair recognizes that in addition to their lack of communication and quality time with one another, it was their internal, personal struggles that created a large amount of the tension that nearly severed their 10-year career.
For Smyers, it was his lack of work-life balance that clouded his mind. As he continued to fight for more and more success, he never took time to step back and take care of himself or his creative partnership with Mooney.
"You live life, things happen, life gets in the way, and I had no balance before,” he admitted. “It was completely one-sided. I was ignoring my marriage, I was ignoring all my friends. I completely burnt myself out, entirely burnt myself out."
For Mooney, the struggles came from not taking the time to soak in the wins he already had in life — personally and professionally. Adding to that, he admitted he was drinking heavily at the time, which only intensified the battles he was facing.
"For me, we didn't ever take time to be able to appreciate winning a GRAMMY or all these things, because it was just happening so fast," he said. "I think about all those things that we did and all the decisions that I made, and of course I wish I would've been more present… I was just in this very feeling sorry for myself place and not wanting to take responsibility for anything."
He continued, “I think that's a lot of the reason why I was unhappy during our arena tour. We built this thing up in our head and I was hanging so much of my happiness on the success of that arena tour. And even when it was successful, I got to that show and we would leave mad about something stupid… It was because we put so much weight on that moment that when it was over, what a downer. Especially at that point. I was drinking a lot, so those highs became really high and the lows became really, really low."
Taking responsibility, individually, for the rut they found themselves in was the first step in mending the structure of this GRAMMY-winning duo’s partnership. They continued to build things again, “From the Ground Up,” as they both decided they wanted to keep creating — knowing that meant doing things differently this time around.
The reconciliation began with a sit-down meeting in March 2022 where the guys put everything out on the table and vowed to make changes.
LISTEN NOW: Dan + Shay talk redefining their success with Audacy's Rob + Holly
"We just weren't working on it,” Smyers said. “We let things get in the way. We let things fly out the window … That moment when we sat down and just talked it out, I feel like was so healthy. That night changed it all."
"Changed everything," Mooney affirmed. "I feel like that was such a big turning point. It was us saying to each other, 'Look, I'm willing to fight for this… We love this band. This has been our life. It matters, and it matters to people.' We had a responsibility.”
“We owed it to them,” Smyers added. “If we're going to keep going forever, let's get ourselves right, man. Let's have a gut check."
The gut checked worked as they guys are currently readying to release their next album, which they’ve promised will be here by the end of the year.
“I can speak for both of us when I say this is the most fun we’ve had making an album,” Shay Mooney told Audacy’s Katie Neal earlier this year. “We’re in this really cool place in our life right now, where I think we’ve redefined what we see success as and we’ve kind of thought of this project as we’re going to make the album that we want to make and speak from our heart, sing what we know and not try to be anything other than just unapologetically Dan + Shay.”
LISTEN NOW: Dan + Shay talk new music with Katie Neal
In addition to new music, the guys will also become the first coaching duo on season 25 of NBC’s The Voice airing Spring 2024. Lots to look forward to with this new, healthier version of Dan + Shay and we look forward to seeing them shine.
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