Three Country Stars Who Nearly Died

Country music has seen its fair share of wild stories, but a few stars have come dangerously close to losing it all. From brutal car crashes to near-fatal mistakes, these singers are living proof that second chances are real.

First up is Zach Bryan. The rising country star was driving through Arkansas with his girlfriend, Brianna Chickenfry, when their SUV flipped several times. Glass shattered, blood covered the scene, and Bryan suffered a deep gash on his arm. Miraculously, neither was seriously injured. Brianna later credited their seat belts for saving their lives.

Then there’s the legendary Possum, George Jones. He battled alcohol for much of his life, but one night near Nashville nearly ended it. Driving drunk, he slammed his car into a concrete bridge railing. Rescuers needed two hours to free him from the mangled wreck. With a collapsed lung, internal bleeding, and liver damage, his survival was a miracle. Jones recovered, got sober, and went on to cement his place in country music history.

Finally, Brantley Gilbert’s story reads like a movie script. At just 19, he lost control of his SUV on a rural Georgia road while chasing a friend. The vehicle flipped several times and smashed into an oak tree, throwing Gilbert out the back window. Somehow, he lived. He later wrote Halfway to Heaven about the crash, got clean with help from Keith Urban, and went on to win CMA and ACM awards.

Three crashes. Three survivors. One genre full of grit.