Ty Herndon has been an enduring figure in the music industry for more than three decades. But it’s not been all smooth sailing for the out artist.
Herndon’s new memoir, “What Mattered Most,” (co-written by David Ritz and available now through Dey Street Books) charts some of the obstacles he’s faced and how he has overcome them.
The Grammy nominee will be doing a reading this Saturday, April 4, at FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock.
Before writing “What Mattered Most,” Herndon had been contemplating a memoir for some time. But a spiritual counselor told him not to chase it, saying if it were meant to be, it would come to him.
And it did. After a “tumultuous year” in 2020, when Herndon relapsed into drug addiction, Ritz, his eventual co-writer, reached out to him to discuss a book. That journey changed Herndon’s life, and he calls the memoir “a testament to survival and transformation.”
Between 1995 and 2002, the artist – who was born in Mississippi and raised in Alabama – had three number one songs and 17 Top 10 country hits, including “Living in a Moment,” “It Must Be Love,” and the namesake of his memoir, “What Mattered Most.” During that time, however, he was also battling drug and alcohol addiction and mental health issues.
In planning for the memoir, Herndon realized he’d have to re-visit some scary places.
“I had never done a book before,” he told Georgia Voice during a recent Zoom interview. “David found my voice, and we walked side by side. He knew I would be excavating some rooms, some rooms that had been locked away for four decades.”
A low point came in 2020. On New Year’s Eve, he found himself face down on his living room floor with 27 pills in his hand – and no intention of seeing the sunrise.
“I hit rock bottom, and I hit it so hard it broke me open,” he said. “This book is for anyone who feels they are at the end of their rope, who goes so far down the wrong road that they can’t go back.”
In 2014, Herndon became the first male country singer to come out. He had wanted to do so earlier, and was eventually convinced he could by singer Chely Wright, who came out herself in 2010. “I have never liked being labeled as anything, but as Chely told me, you get to a place where your blood and bones have to be comfortable in the place that God built,” Herndon said. “I am co-dependent on my faith. Coming out for me was a phone call to Chely saying, ‘I am happy, but I am not happy here.’”
He spent four hours on the phone with Wright and flew with friends and colleagues to New York, surrounded with love, to talk openly to People magazine. But, his inner circle told him that there was a chance he’d never sing before an audience again, and that he had to be okay with the possibility. Herndon also knew that his story would necessarily involve his boyfriend, Matt Collum, who was not out at the time. He took that chance.
Looking back, Herndon remembers it being a beautiful day.
“I remember the morning after the story broke early, there were 300 text messages,” he said. “I did a show a week later, and a thousand people showed up. I walked out to a standing ovation.”
He eventually founded the Concert For Love + Acceptance, which opened the doors to a more inclusive country music community, and became an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, mental health, and addiction and trauma recovery.
“With the journey I’ve had, if I weren’t an advocate for healing and getting on the other side of some heinous and awful stuff, I’d be doing a great disservice,” he said. “I honor that fact that my truth gets to sit in a place that it serves.”
