Every day, Brent Smith reads the tattoo stamped atop his left hand.
“Your pain is a gift,” the ink reads, reminding the veteran rock frontman that for all the mistakes he’s made failed relationships, struggles with addiction and substance abuse he still has the ability to channel his anguish into messages of strength for millions of fans.
“We write songs because it s cheaper than therapy,” says Smith, who as lead singer of the immensely popular hard-rock band Shinedown has pumped out a list of searing singles over the past 20 years, merging the sounds of grunge, metal, southern rock and pop. “I ve never been afraid to say how I feel,” he adds. “Even if I m talking about dark subject matter, I m always trying to empower the listener to say that it may be difficult, you may have to struggle, but you can hold on to hope and understand that life is never going to be perfect. It’s not meant to be perfect.”
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