Country Music Star Breaks His Silence, Steps Away From Career Indefinitely

Back in November, country music star Chase Rice announced that he would be stepping back from touring for the next year, joking that he was looking to pursue his college football career after about two decades. However, it now sounds like that decision is a bit more serious than he initially let on.

Rice has not spoken much about his decision to step away from touring since making the decision back in November. However, he has now broken his silence on the matter as he added more details in an emotional Instagram post.

Chase Rice Steps Away From Touring

Back in November, Rice announced in a post on Instagram that he would be stepping away from touring after the conclusion of his most recent tour, joking that he was going to go back to playing college football.

“Taking next year off from touring for the first time in 13 years. Gonna go back and apply and train for my 6th year in college football,” the country star posted on his Instagram Story. “I got this. [North] Carolina’s my first choice. @thereallanekiffin, you’re a factor into this. I hereby open my recruitment.”

It marked the first time in 13 years that Rice was taking a step back from touring.

Rice Breaks His Silence on the Decision

Rice remained mostly silent about his decision for more than a month. However, in an emotional post on Instagram this week, he added more details, revealing that he was stepping back from his music career altogether for an indefinite amount of time.

Rice admitted that he was "exhausted" and simply needed a break.

"Alright everybody, I wasn't sure whether I was gonna talk about this or not but here we are. I've been touring for 13 years and I've lived a dream far greater than I could've ever expected. This isn't a goodbye thing or anything like that to be clear upfront, although it may feel like that, but I'm exhausted. I haven't been able to be myself on stage in quite a while and really enjoy music and why I got into it in the first place," he wrote in a post on Instagram.

"I love songs, I love living them, hearing stories from other people, and figuring out how to put that life into music. After 13 years it's finally beat me up to the point where I need to step away for a while. I need to go live life so that I have more real experiences to write down."

While this is not something that Rice has done previously in his career, Rice admitted that he felt it was necessary.

"I won't be touring this year and it wasn't even really a decision, it was something I know that I just have to do for myself. A lot of artists do this all the time, but it's new for me so it's kind of a big deal in my life," Rice wrote.

"To my band and crew, I love y'all. You've seen me at my worst yet you still love me back like I've lived my best. I hope we can all get together in the coming years and get back to enjoying life on the road again. To any fans that have followed me along this journey, I love y'all too, you have truly made a dream of mine come true.

"I've got a handful of shows this year, but it will not look like anything like what I've done the last 13 years of my life," he added. "I hope this year brings new experiences for me to put into songs that will make y'all happy. Until then, thanks for the ride."

We'll have to see how Rice handles this hiatus.