Cody Johnson Reveals He's Spent the Night in Jail a 'Few Times' and Opens Up About Having 'Daily Struggles'
Cody Johnson Reveals He's Spent the Night in Jail a 'Few Times' and Opens Up About Having 'Daily Struggles'
Daniela AvilaMon, June 29, 2026 at 9:55 PM UTC
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Cody Johnson in Nashville on June 27, 2026Credit: Jamie Schramm/Variety via Getty -
Cody Johnson reflects on past struggles, including spending nights in jail, on his new album Banks of the Trinity
The country star previously worked as a corrections officer, before quitting to pursue music full-time
Johnson hopes to inspire others by revealing the hardships he faced before finding success in music
Cody Johnson is getting candid about spending the night in jail.
To celebrate the release of his latest studio album Banks of the Trinity, the country star went on Apple Music's The Kelleigh Bannen Show and opened up about making confessions on "Time Bomb."
"I've been to jail, stuff like that. People don't know that. I've been locked up a few times in jail. Just overnight. I didn't get sentenced or anything. There are parts of my life that people don't know about and I'm like, ‘Y'all look at this Cody Johnson guy like I'm some kind of saint.' I'm not. I am just like you," Johnson, 39, said during his June 25 appearance.
"I have daily struggles with things that you do too. I have to really work up here a lot to get my brain disciplined to where I don't think like that guy," he continued. "Let's be a better version of that guy. That kid's got to grow up eventually."
In the song, Johnson — who worked as a corrections officer in Texas early in his career — admits that he's "been through hell" and "locked up in jail."
"Now I've got three children / And I've got one loving wife," he sings. "That still choose to love me / In spite of my life."
Elsewhere in the interview, Johnson opened up about his song "I Have" and said he recorded it for younger artists who think, "Man, I want what Cody's got."
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"Dude, there was a lot of very dark times to get to this sunshine and rainbow experience that I'm having now," he said. "Sleazy hotel rooms and no money and tinkering with alcoholism or drug problems or whatever, anger issues, whatever it was."
Cody Johnson in Nashville in June 2025Credit: Terry Wyatt/WireImage
He continued, "It's like I wanted people to know, ‘Hey, when you look at me, please don't put me on a pedestal. I'm doing the best I can just like you. I've got parts figured out. I've got parts that I don't have figured out."
Johnson released his sixth studio album Banks of the Trinity on Friday, June 26. In a press release announcing the record, Johnson said he "wanted to tell the story about my childhood."
"When I heard the song 'Banks of the Trinity' for the first time, it was like this portrait showed in my head of memories that I had honestly forgotten," he continued. "It just took me back home to Sebastopol, Texas, where I grew up on the Trinity River. I had tears in my eyes when I heard it for the first time."
In May, Johnson was named Entertainer of the Year at the 2026 ACM Awards and he dedicated the prize to his fellow nominee Luke Combs.
"There's a man who was up for this award that I personally watched devote his life to country music," he said.
"I was there the night in Australia when his wife gave birth to one of their sons. And I watched the anguish, I watched the defeat on his face for not being there, because he was across the world playing music in a sold-out arena," Johnson continued. "The next night, right after, I watched him get on stage and absolutely murder the stage, and go on stage and play country music and preach the message of country music to a bunch of Australians across the world."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
