Dierks Bentley Reveals His Most Painful Injury on Stage

Dierks Bentley is used to a few bumps and bruises as part of his energetic performances. But one incident early in his career will likely go down in history as his most painful on-stage battle wound ever.

"I was wearing a pair of boots I had never worn before," Bentley recalls backstage at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "Somebody gave me a pair of cowboy boots at the meet and greet and I thought, 'I'll put them on in case they're out there, they can see me wearing them, so I'll be a nice guy.' Bad idea."

Bentley was touring as the opening act for Kenny Chesney's The Road and The Radio Tour, performing on a much bigger stage than he was used to at that point in his career. Enjoying the extra space during the encore, and while wearing his brand-new boots, Bentley jumped from stage, severely injuring himself in the process.

"I landed in these kind of funky boots and it felt like the world's biggest rubber band snapped inside my knee. It was a crazy, intense painful feeling. I tried to stay upright but I came crashing down. Kenny came over, kind of laughing, and just thinking I was messing around. He looked at my face and knew I wasn't messing around, but I was able to finish the song through, I think, sheer fear of the crowd."

Bentley made it back to his home in Nashville, where he learned he had torn his ACL – but even that couldn't keep him off the road for long.

"That was on a Saturday night, I got back to Nashville and had surgery on a Wednesday and was back out on the road Friday with a new ACL implanted in my knee," Bentley says. "Many stories of chipped teeth and bruised livers and broken bones over the years, but that one sticks out the most."

Hopefully Bentley won't need surgery during his current Mountain High Tour. The Arizona native is currently on the road, with Brothers Osborne and LANCO serving as his opening acts.

"We keep it weird," Bentley admits (quote via Sounds Like Nashville). "There's some weird guys so I'm trying to keep it weird for them. My goal with the road, and has been for a while, is to make the daytime – it's like the song 'Living.' I'm trying to pack as much living as I can out of every day, I'm trying to pack an entire day, an entire life into every day. That's my goal."

Find a list of all of Bentley's upcoming shows at Dierks.com.

Photo Credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com