Shane McAnally Reveals He’s One Year Sober in Vulnerable Video
Shane McAnally is opening up about his sobriety. The awarded country songwriter says he's one year sober in a vulnerable video he shared to Instagram this week.
"So I've never done a video like this where I just looked at the camera and started talking," McAnally begins. Tuesday, Jan. 11 — the date he published the video — marked one year clean and sober for the Songland star.
His journey to sobriety is a part of his life that he has kept close to his chest, McAnally says, only revealing his goal to a few close friends and family members.
"I finally am trying to get my outsides to match my insides, which means that I present a really amazing life on Instagram and social media and I have an amazing life," he reveals. "I just haven't been able to appreciate it and haven't actually been living up to the man that I show you or even the people in my life ... until now."
McAnally also says that he wants to be better in the roles he's been given. "I'm trying to be the dad that I've pretended to be. I'm trying to be the husband that I've pretended to be. And I'm getting closer."
The songwriter and his husband, Michael Baum, share 9-year-old boy and girl twins.
Although scared to post this video, McAnally wanted to be honest and open to followers on the platform who'd been wondering why he has been posting photos of sobriety chips. Most recently, he shared his nine-month chip with the caption, "I can’t rewrite the past, but I can rewrite the future. 9 months today. 🙏" McAnally has disabled the comments on all of the posts regarding his journey.
The country mainstay is a Grammy-winning songwriter who has had his hands on more than 40 No. 1 hits. He has worked with numerous artists both in and out of country music — some of his songwriting credits include Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani's "Nobody But You", "Hard to Forget" from Sam Hunt, and Kelsea Ballerini's "Half of My Hometown," featuring Kenny Chesney.
He's also recognizable from his time on the NBC show Songland. The reality competition gave budding songwriters a chance to pitch their songs to esteemed writers and guest artists, with the hopes of having their song recorded. The show ran for two seasons, from 2019-2020, and produced several songs like Lady A's "Champagne Night."