When country star Justin Moore recently sat down to record an interview on the TL’s Roadhouse podcast with singer Tracy Lawrence, he proudly announced he was 65 days sober and feeling as good as ever.
“I feel good, man,” he told Lawrence on the episode that dropped this past Wednesday. “I feel like myself for the first time in a while, and I’m actually proud of myself for the first time in a while.”
Moore has officially resumed touring following a 30-day stint in an alcohol rehabilitation facility. The 42-year-old singer previously sparked concern on June 8, 2026, when he abruptly paused his tour with Riley Green to prioritize his health after a strained festival performance where he forgot lyrics. Returning to the stage on July 9 at the Knox County Fair, Moore candidly revealed his struggle with addiction and celebrated 31 days of sobriety. This personal battle follows a physically grueling year for the artist, who also performed through a torn MCL earlier this spring.
The “You, Me, and Whiskey” singer also acknowledged the support he received from other artists, including Green, who welcomed him back to the stage in July. “Riley’s been great… he’s like, ‘Dude, you come back when you’re ready,’” he told Lawrence.
The difference onstage was immediate. “The first time that I got on stage and I hadn’t had a drink, it’s a big adjustment… but man, I’m singing better. I remember the shows… these fans, man, they deserve our best, and I lost sight of that for a little while.”
Lawrence, who has his own history with treatment, backed him up with his own experience: “Most of the issues that I had—jealousies, insecurities, anger—most of it was fueled by alcohol.”
Moore recounted how it became almost scary that he was becoming a functioning alcoholic, especially during COVID. “We were doing our podcast at the time, and literally nothing else,” Moore recalled. “A drink at five turned into three at noon, and then before you know it, it’s all day every day… I was putting so much energy into drinking… it was taking away from not only my professionalism but my family, most importantly, church.”
From the outside, Moore insists he looked “high functioning.” But little by little, poor performances, foggy recollections, and other health concerns became harder to ignore.
“I walked straight upstairs [one Sunday], told my wife, I go, ‘I gotta go get help. I just gotta do it.”
The Health Scares That Forced a Hard Look in the Mirror
Rehab, Moore says, was far from a quick fix. Confronting some of the deep-rooted problems he had been bottling up for decades was unsettling, and mostly confirmed truths he already knew but hadn’t been willing to face.
“It was really just the act of going and doing it… you learn a little here and there, but all the stuff you know,” he said. “I did learn in there, it’s okay to not be okay.”
At the same time, he realized that during his bout with alcohol, he wasn’t capable of giving fans his best performance night after night. Most of the time, the “Till My Last Day” singer was on point, but those nights were too foggy to be giving his best began taking its toll on him as well.
“I remember the shows, and and again, it wasn’t constant with me. It was just that that one night where you got how I didn’t get I didn’t do my best,” he admits. “And these fans, man, they deserve our best, and I lost sight of that for a little while. And I’m not ashamed to admit it.”
Moore also revealed that alcohol wasn’t the only way he was allowing his health to deteriorate. The singer admitted that he hadn’t gone to the doctor for any kind of checkup for nearly a decade. He attributes that avoidance to what he described as a “tape it back up and go” trait he learned from his old-school grandfathers.
“I hadn’t gone to the doctor… in probably 10 years, I hadn’t went to the dentist,” he admitted, tracing it back to that mentality. “If a limb’s hanging off and you’re working, you just kind of tape it back up and go for it.”
Eventually, the warning signs were too obvious to ignore. The most serious: Moore began noticing a large mass growing on his neck. “At the time we didn’t know it was cancer, we didn’t know what it was… your mind takes you to the worst possible places.”
It turned out to be benign, doctors told him, but because of its location, the “Small Town USA” singer was warned it could affect his voice one day. “We thought it was called a lipoma, but a fatty cyst… it’s just fat,” he said. “It’s benign, thank God.” However, he’s not completely out of the woods. “They told me… it would be very, very difficult to do surgery, and it may affect my singing and my even my speaking voice.”
On top of that, other issues—including high blood pressure—became the health wake-up call he needed. “I thought, what am I doing? I’m like, this is certainly not helping the situation,” he said. “I just thought, man, I want to get healthy.”
What’s Next: New Music, New Perspective
Even as he rebuilds his health, Moore’s not slowing down musically. He’s already written 30 to 40 songs for his next album and has four tracks recorded and sung for a project he hopes to release in the first quarter of next year.
“We’ve got to cut, you know, seven or eight more songs, but I think we have them,” he said. “We just got to go cut them.”
Fans will get an early taste soon with a new track called “Missing Unite” being rolled out as a preview. Moore says he’s still committed to the sound that built his career—“more traditional leaning with a… southern rock twist”—but he’s also thinking harder than ever about how each song fits his live show and long-term health.
He’s wrapping up a run with Riley Green this fall and looking forward to stretching back out into longer headlining sets—this time, with his health and sobriety front and center.