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Chris Stapleton dedicated his long-awaited new album to his wife and fellow singer-songwriter, Morgane Stapleton. Two days after the husband and wife pair took the stage at the 57th annual CMA Awards in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee, the reigning Male Vocalist of the Year finally released Higher on Friday (November 10).
Morgane, who produced the album with her husband and Dave Cobb, shared when Higher released that she had “so many tears in my eyes I can’t see straight! I am moved and humbled and I love you more than you could ever know ♥️,” she wrote in an Instagram comment as Stapleton shared the album artwork on one slide, and a second slide that reads, “for Morgane.”
Stapleton said that there’s typically “a little bit of apprehension, a little bit of excitement mixed together,” when he debuts another full-length record. He announced Higher earlier this year, which includes previously-released “White Horse,” “It Takes A Woman” and other highlights throughout the 14-track project that expertly blends the country hitmaker’s genre-spanning musical influences.
“Whenever we’re releasing new music, we don’t have a specific ritual really, but I think there’s a little bit of apprehension, a little bit of excitement mixed together wondering how fans will react, really,” Stapleton said, per his record label. “I think that’s the main thing going on in our heads when we put something out is we hope whatever we’ve done will be something that people will gravitate to and enjoy.
“‘Higher’ is a song that’s been around a long, long time,” Stapleton said, per his label, of the album’s title track. “I wrote it in 2001 in the first few months of being a professional songwriter here in Nashville, and it was on the first demo session that I ever did here in Nashville. So, for it to come around 22 years later and wind up being the title track of an album is a pretty unique thing to me.”
- What Am I Gonna Do
- South Dakota
- Trust
- It Takes A Woman
- The Fire
- Think I’m In Love With You
- Loving You On My Mind
- White Horse
- Higher
- The Bottom
- The Day I Die
- Crosswind
- Weight Of Your World
- Mountains Of My Mind
Stapleton’s latest album adds to his career-spanning hits from Starting Over, Traveller and other projects, including “Tennessee Whiskey,” “Parachute,” “Broken Halos,” “You Should Probably Leave” and others. Stapleton took the stage to perform twice during the 57th annual CMA Awards on Wednesday evening (November 8), including to join fellow Kentucky-born singer-songwriter Carly Pearce on her heartache duet, “We Don’t Fight Anymore,” and to perform “White Horse” with Morgane on stage.
Stapleton previously shared that his wife is the first person to hear his songs, including “White Horse.” That anthem is up for Best Country Solo Performance at the 2024 Grammy Awards, the nominations list revealed on Friday morning. Stapleton is also up for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “We Don’t Fight Anymore” with Pearce, and Best Country Song for “White Horse.” See the full list of nominees here.
Listen to the full Higher album on iHeartRadio here, and listen to the title track below.