Walker Hayes on Oakleigh, sobriety and 'Sober Thoughts'

Country singer Walker Hayes, 45, said he nearly lost his sobriety after the funeral for his seventh child, daughter Oakleigh, who was born and died on the same day on June 6, 2018 after his wife suffered a uterine rupture. Hayes told the 'K-Love Morning Show' he was two-and-a-half years sober at the time and drove to a bar called 55 South intending "to just ... self-destruct," and to "get a little buzz" and "get in a fight." Before exiting the car he realised he had no wallet and returned home, where he saw his wife Laney "sitting by herself, on the day she's buried her daughter," which stopped him. Hayes has six other children: sons Beckett, Baylor and Chapel, and daughters Everly, Loxley and Lela. In 2024 he released the album "Sober Thoughts," and has spoken about writing songs on his "freedom from addiction" and deciding to get sober after struggling with alcohol for 20 years.