Daughtry on New Music, Loss, and Finding His True Sound

Prescience Media Group: Kevin Rademeyer

Chris Daughtry has never sounded more assured. Fresh from a run of festival appearances and gearing up for a co-headlining show with Creed’s Scott Stapp in Northern California, the frontman sat down with me to reflect on his band’s journey, their latest work, and the personal trials that have shaped his music.

“I feel we finally found that place I’ve been striving for ever since I was 16 or 17,” he told me. “It feels right, it feels like we’re home.”

That sense of arrival is evident in Artificial, the band’s latest single, which soared into the top five on the rock radio chart. A brooding, heavy track with thunderous double bass and chugging riffs, it showcases a darker edge to Daughtry’s sound. But more than its intensity, the song represents the singer confronting his own doubts.

“I was questioning whether we could even get away with it, whether we’d be taken seriously,” he admitted. “Just because we had success with something before, did that mean we were stuck doing it forever? At some point I realised I was letting outside noise dictate my decisions. This time, I decided to own it.”

Thematically, Artificial grapples with society’s uneasy relationship with technology. Yet its bleak worldview stands apart from the rest of the band’s upcoming record. “It’s probably the only song we’ve ever written that has zero hope,” Daughtry explained. “There’s a lot more personal stuff on this record, and I can’t wait for people to hear it.”

That personal side is captured powerfully in Pieces, a song born out of profound grief following the loss of both his mother and daughter within a week of each other in 2021. “I went through quite a bit,” he said quietly. “It did a number on me, and I think this song really deals with the things those kinds of events bring up in you. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same as I was before those events—and I’m okay with that. We can either let that destroy us, or we can learn how to live with what’s left.”

Fans have already connected deeply with Pieces, a reaction Daughtry finds humbling. “It gave me comfort to know someone else can hear their story in this,” he said. “That’s why I do this.”

The forthcoming release—currently half written and recorded—also includes The Reckoning and Shock to the System, tracks that blend emotional intensity with the heavy, urgent energy that has redefined the band’s sound. “Sometimes we get bogged down by the minutiae of the rules of songwriting,” Daughtry reflected. “I stopped subscribing to that. The song has to speak. That’s the only rule.”

Still, not everything has been sombre. A viral live duet with Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix on Scars reminded fans of Daughtry’s enduring rock credentials, while the band’s electrifying cover of Journey’s Separate Ways, recorded with Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale, has become a setlist staple. “Originally, I thought about covering Final Countdown,” he laughed, “but there was no way to wipe the cheese off that one. Then I saw Stranger Things use Separate Ways in this epic scene, and I knew we had to do it. Bringing Lzzy in was a no-brainer—she killed it.”

On stage, the new material sits comfortably alongside fan favourites like It’s Not Over and Home. At a recent Minnesota show, the band delivered an explosive encore of The Dam, Heavy Is the Crown, and Artificial. “We’re having a blast out there,” Daughtry said. “You can feel the connection between us and the audience. That’s what it’s all about.”

Reflecting on his journey from pre-American Idol garage bands to global stages, he sees the current chapter as a return to his roots. “You start to get wrapped up in what’s right for radio or what’s expected of you because you were on TV,” he said. “I had to deconstruct all that. Right now, I feel like I’m back to chasing the music that feels true.”

And judging by the crowd’s response, Chris Daughtry has never been closer to it.