Jeff Ray Chase Bryant is opening up about his experience with attempted suicide.
In a video titled “This Is Me,” Chase emotionally shares how he took a three-year hiatus from the music business after scoring two top 10 singles “Take it On Back” and “Little Bit of You” in 2015, referring to himself as “very confused” and “very sick” as he battled depression and anxiety during his rise to fame.
“I was chasing success…I wasn’t chasing happiness,” Chase recalls to People. “I was trying to be something I wasn’t.”
One night in 2018, Chase got in his truck with a long hand-written note and a .357 revolver with six bullets in it and drove to a gas station. He placed the gun to his head and screamed “sorry” at the top of his lungs before pulling the trigger. But when he looked down, he found that the gun only had five bullets in it.
“I realized that life is too short, don’t make it any shorter,” Chase recalls of what he thought when he got out of his truck that night. “Be yourself, love the people around you, and don’t ever forget your upbringing.”
Soon after, Chase returned to his roots in his home state of Texas, which inspired his new collection of music, including the single “Upbringing” that will be released on Friday.
“What we’re doing here is a brand new beginning. The old me will never be forgotten, that’ll always be a picture in the back of my mind,” the singer says. “But the new me is the person I’ll get to live the rest of my life with.”
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK] for free confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even if it feels like it, you are not alone.
By Cillea Houghton
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