10 Great Songs You Didn’t Know Chris Stapleton Wrote
Revisit tracks the country powerhouse penned for artists ranging from Adele to George Strait

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 13: Singer Chris Stapleton performs onstage at the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Lionel Richie at the Los Angeles Convention Center on February 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS)
Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS
It took 14 long years for Chris Stapleton to become an overnight success. Now the soul-country maverick has announced a new tour and album. The All-American Road Show tour builds on already announced dates in March and April. The new run kicks off May 5th and hits cities from Los Angeles to Philadelphia before wrapping up in Gilford, New Hampshire, on August 25th. Along the way, Stapleton will perform at historic venues like Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheater and the Forum in L.A., plus festivals like Milwaukee’s Summerfest and Watershed in George, Washington.
After moving to Nashville in 2001, the Kentucky native kicked off his career as a songwriter for other singers, spending his days whipping up hits for Kenny Chesney, Josh Turner and Darius Rucker. His own bands came and went along the way, including a run with left-of-center bluegrass group the SteelDrivers and one album with half-serious Southern rockers the Jompson Brothers. By the time his duet with Justin Timberlake at the 2015 CMA Awards catapulted his solo career to the top of the mainstream, Stapleton had become one of the industry’s best-kept secrets: a songwriter, guitarist and knockout singer whose pen was just as mighty as his voice. Here, we take a look at some of the songs that helped get him there: 10 tracks that Stapleton wrote for others.