Country Star Retiring, Going Into Ministry
Granger Smith is retiring from country music. The "Backroad Song" singer, 43, announced Tuesday on social media that he is leaving country music to pursue ministry at his local church outside of Austin, Texas. Smith confirmed that his upcoming Like a River tour, named after his 3-year-old son River, who died after a tragic drowning accident in 2019, will be his last.
Smith announced the news on Instagram, where he wrote in a "difficult" message to fans, "The words for this caption are so hard to find. Not because I don't believe in the truth of them, but because this marks the end of the longest era in my life! Touring...24 years of it." Smith went on to reveal, "This summer will be my last tour." The musician added that he is "so encouraged and hopeful and excited and joyful about the next chapter, but to a large extent, I have no idea what it will look like. I just want to glorify God the best way that I can. I want to learn and grow and serve my local church and allow my pastors to equip and affirm those next steps. Lord willing, I want to be used to help people find their purpose."
In the accompanying video, Smith further opened up about his decision to leave the music industry and pursue ministry, telling his fans, "I have felt a strong desire to pursue ministry." He explained that "this doesn't mean that I'm gonna start a church or a crusade or a revival," but rather, it means Smith and his family – he has been married to his wife, Amber, since 2010, the couple proud parents to London, 11, Lincoln, 9, and Maverick, 1 – "are gonna serve our local church. We're gonna pour into that church as members and have my pastors and elder pour into me and disciple me and teach me as I sit under their wise teaching." The Texas native went on to share that pursuing country music and performing on stage while also pursuing ministry has felt like a "contradiction."
"In country music, when I get up on the stage and just need glorification and need praise, and if I don't get it that means my career is not doing well and so I work harder for that -- I can't reconcile those two things, y'all. I can't," he said. "I can't go to seminary and pursue ministry and be poured in by my pastors and elders and then go out on weekends and try to be exalting myself. I think that's a contradiction and it's nothing against anyone else that can do music and succeed in denying themselves, I just -- I'm not very good at it."
Smith, who also announced he's coming out with a new book, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward After Loss and Heartache, which will focus on the death of his son, ended his message by promising his fans, "I'm not going anywhere, I'm going to be here. I just wanted to tell you guys I love you." Speaking to PEOPLE, Smith said, "My career was going to start going down at some point, so there's something kind of neat to say that I will have never experienced the downward career spiral that would inevitably have happened to me. It'll be neat to say that when we walked off, it was to full applause and to a bunch of love from the audience."