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Cody Johnson Knows Who He Owes His Success To

Cody Johnson’s star has risen quite a bit in the last few years with hit records, sold out tours, and award wins, including the 2024 CMA Album of the Year…

Cody Johnson poses in a black jacket and cowboy hat with his wife Brandi, wearing black.
Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Cody Johnson's star has risen quite a bit in the last few years with hit records, sold out tours, and award wins, including the 2024 CMA Album of the Year Award for his Leather album.

Cody told us recently that he knows the reason for his success. He said, "If it wasn't for Brandi (his wife), I wouldn't be here. I am being dead serious, to say that if it weren't for Brandi, I would probably be dead or in jail."

He added, "She's the woman who encouraged me to be the man I am as a husband, as a father, as a CEO of a company, as a leader. I owe everything I have to that woman. If anyone wants to give any applause, that's the reason."

Johnson‘s two daughters Clara Mae and Cori, who are nine and seven, have thought a little bit about becoming country singers. We talked to Cody recently, and he told us that he is discouraging his daughters from following in his footsteps.

"I told them, 'Don’t do it… you think it’s easy because we ride around in private jets and buses and stuff, and we have these expensive trips and all this stuff.' It looks good on paper, but I tell them, 'You guys weren’t around for the real hard work like when I was looking into a McDonald’s and not being able to go in and buy food and literally starving for country music.'"

He asked his girls, "'What else do you wanna be?' and they say, 'I wanna be a vet, and I also wanna be a teacher, and I wanna be a pastor, but then after that, I’m thinking maybe I could be a lawyer.'"

The budding country superstar admits, "Cody Johnson is like the lowest man on the totem pole right now. At my house, it kind of goes Carrie Underwood, Lainey Wilson, and Megan Maroney and then me. I love Carrie. I love Lainey and I recently met Megan and she’s one of the nicest girls I ever met, but I’m so sick of their music. It’s not even funny, because they blare it constantly at our house."

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.