Chris Stapleton Says ‘Equality is Something We Have to Address’ in Music

Chris Stapleton won a GRAMMY in all three categories he was nominated in at the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards on Jan. 28, and also earned a coveted performance slot, sharing the stage with Emmylou Harris as part of the GRAMMYs’ memorial segment, remembering the lives lost in the last year.

With the awards ceremony once again seemingly dominated by men, with only one woman, Aleissa Cara, winning a solo GRAMMY (for Best New Artist), it might seem that the industry is more divided than ever, especially after GRAMMY President Neil Portnow stated that women “needed to to step up because I think they would be welcome.”

Just don’t ask Stapleton to take a side.

“It’s always a hard thing to see things not go somebody’s way,” Stapleton told Variety. “And equality is something we have to address on a lot of levels. I can’t really speak to how voters voted and what happened there, but there is a lot of great music being made by a lot of great women. That is the only thing I know and the awards don’t diminsh the art in any way.”

This isn’t the first time the “Broken Halos” singer has spoken up for peace instead of division. After Stapleton’s three CMA Awards wins, in 2015, Stapleton was asked if he felt he should have had a better shot at radio.

“I don’t feel like music is a war or it’s a battle or anything like that, and I think people have a tendency to try to make it into that,” Stapleton said (quote via The Boot). “We all are out here … Nobody gets anywhere by hating on somebody else’s music. What’s the point? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Stapleton recently announced he will hit the road later this year on his All-American Road Show, with Marty Stuart and Brent Cobb serving as his opening acts. Dates are available on his website.