Josh Turner Shares How A Vocal Chord Injury Became a Blessing in Disguise

Josh Turner is opening up about the moment that almost changed the trajectory of his career forever, and how the experience taught him a lifetime worth of lessons that would shape him into the country star he is today.

In a set of new videos shared via Instagram, viewers see Turner take a deep dive into his musical journey during an interview with presenter and entertainment journalist, Rory O’Connor.

A Vocal Chord Injury That Turned Out To Be A Blessing

Taking things back to his early career, Turner tells O’Connor about the moment he learned he had injured his voice just as he was ready to make the move to Nashville, TN. 

“I thought my dreams were crushed. I was just completely deflated and discouraged,” said Turner.

Despite the fear he was experiencing, this turned out to be a blessing for the “Your Man” singer. He was forced to learn about the importance of vocal care and taking the necessary steps to know how to sing properly and maintain it to be able to sing for many years to come. He shared, “That’s been the greatest asset for me as a singer over the last 20-plus years.”

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An injury like this would be devastating for any artist, and Turner, who’s built a career on the charm of his baritone vocals, now realizes just how detrimental it would have been if he hadn’t taken care of the injury at that moment. 

“Had I not injured my voice and done everything that was required to get over that and heal from that, who knows where I would’ve been? I probably would’ve blown my voice out or had surgery. A lot of times when you get to have surgery, that changes the way you sound.”

How Turner Has Managed To Achieve His Goal Of Having “Longevity”

Overall, Josh Turner says his main goal has always been to have “longevity” in the music business. Seeing as he’s been able to maintain his career for over two decades now, it’s safe to say he has achieved this with three key things – “patience, consistency, (and) recording music that’s timeless.”

“That’s always been my goal, is to have a long career, and I didn’t really know what to expect when it comes to that, but I always knew what it took to get there,” he explained before adding, “I’ve always said that recording real songs about real life with real musicians playing real instruments and a real singer behind the microphone is never going to go out of style.”

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Josh Turner has gone on to inspire many members of the next generation of country stars, who hope to follow in his footsteps and achieve the same kind of durability. 

Josh Turner Drops His First Greatest Hits Album

In September of 2023, he celebrated all he’s accomplished thus far with the release of a Greatest Hits collection. This project includes 11 of Turner’s top charting tunes that have been compiled from seven of his studio albums. Featured on the track list are his five No. 1 hits – “Your Man,” certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA, “Would You Go With Me,” certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA, “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” certified double-Platinum by the RIAA, “All Over Me,” certified Gold by the RIAA, and “Hometown Girl,” certified double-Platinum by the RIAA.

Additionally, Turner’s Greatest Hits project wouldn’t be complete without his signature song, “Long Black Train.” The Platinum-certified hit was first released in 2003 as the second single and title track to his debut album, Long Black Train. Both the song and the album have since been certified Platinum by the RIAA with nearly 1.5M album sales. 

“It’s Surreal, It’s A Blessing”

The MCA Nashville recording artist previously expressed how proud he is to be able to compile a Greatest Hits collection for the first time.

“It’s kind of crazy. You know, a greatest hits package is not something you see a whole lot nowadays. There’s a variety of reasons for that, but to be able to have something like that come out for my fans to buy is just, once again, it’s kind of like celebrating 20 years of a single, you know, it’s just one of those things that you never really dreamt about,” he shared before adding, “It’s hard to put into words. I’m very, very thankful, very blessed that I have enough songs that I could call hits to put into a collection like that, and that the fans and radio and the industry has continued to support me throughout my career. It’s surreal, it’s a blessing and, you know, hope people enjoy it.”

Josh Turner recently returned to the road for the next leg of his headline trek, the Greatest Hits Tour, which launched in January and runs through July. Turner’s next show is scheduled to take place on March 15 in Round Rock, TX.