Jason Isbell jokes he had to be an alcoholic and get a divorce for Grammy voters to recognize his name

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jason Isbell shared his journey to winning the Grammy awards six times, including the two recent wins from the prestigious ceremony in January.

"I try to be the only person in the category voters have ever heard of,” the singer told People.

Jason Isbell says his goal was to make Grammy voters recognize his name

Isbell joked he had to make a lot of mistakes for the Academy voters to recognize his name.

“Either you’re Beyonce, or you find a niche genre. [Recording] Academy voters don’t listen to roots music, so all I want from them is to recognize my name," said the 45-year-old.

"Now, to do that, I’ve had to make a lot of mistakes: I had to be an alcoholic and get a divorce. But now they say, ‘Oh, I’ve heard of this guy!’” he added.

Isbell, who clinched the title of best American roots song for 'Cast Iron Skillet' and best Americana album for Weathervanes, began his career with the Drive-By Truckers and in 2007, he performed his first solo.

The actor has been candid about his personal life. Emphasizing the transformative power of change and self-reflection, he discussed his journey toward sobriety after an intervention in 2012.

Inside Jason Isbell's split from his wife Amanda Shires

In 2013, Isbell married fiddle player and bandmate Amanda Shires.

Two months before the couple's 11th anniversary, Isbell filed for divorce in December 2023, citing irreconcilable differences.

"I’m a far better self-soother than I used to be,” the 400 unit band member said of how his perspective changed following sobriety.

“I’ve been equipped for emotional hardship for a long time. So I’m grateful I’m on the right path, even though sometimes it’s difficult,” he added.

Reflecting on his divorce from Shires, Isbell said, "We’re all getting along right now. It’s hard and sad, and I don’t enjoy it, but ... I’m in a good place."

“Mercy’s happy. She knows, no matter what, she’s going to be loved and safe and cared for," he said of their eight-year-old daughter Mercy.

Opening up on their relationship turbulence, Shires and Isbell discussed marriage counseling in the documentary 'Running With Our Eyes Closed' in 2023.

“If you go through your life in recovery and continue to improve, you become more honest as time goes on,” said Isbell.

"I’ve had to have a lot of conversations I didn’t want to have, but I had to be honest with myself and the people I care about. Part of aging, if you’re doing it right, is saying things out loud that you would have been afraid to say when you were younger," he added.