Chris Stapleton After 2016 Grammy Awards Wins: ‘It Still Feels Kind of Fake’
Chris Stapleton was one of the artists of the hour at the 2016 Grammy Awards -- and that reality still hasn't quite sunk in. But just because he's gone from Grammy nominee to (two-time) Grammy winner doesn't mean that Stapleton will be changing his approach to making music; the trophy isn't that shiny, so to speak.
"I don't make records to win awards," Stapleton told The Boot and other media in the Grammy Awards media room after winning Best Country Album and Best Country Solo Performance. "I make records to make records, and hopefully make the records as good as they can be. That's what these awards hopefully represent ..."
The singer-songwriter admits that his rising fame means that his venues are a little bigger, and attending (and doing press for) the Grammys comes with the territory. Stapleton calls it "life changing," and, just as he never gave up on his dreams, he tells all those who are still working toward their dreams: "Keep on dreaming."
"You're in this moment; it's hard to kind of digest it and be fully aware of it, but ... you're holding these [Grammys], and it still feels kind of fake," Stapleton recounts of how it felt to be up onstage accepting his trophies. "Maybe it'll sink in sooner or later."
Traveller was released in May of 2015, but it's the product of one-and-a-half decades of Stapleton's life. He explains that the album's songs are "all written with friends of mine and people I've come to hold dear as friends and brothers in music," adding that those are the memories that stand out in his mind.
Stapleton also performed at the awards show, alongside Bonnie Raitt and Gary Clark Jr., in a tribute to the late blues legend B.B. King.
See Pictures From the 2016 Grammy Awards