Mark Chesnutt is doing well now… but he’s had a handful of health scares in the past half decade or so. You’ve likely seen a number of stories and announcements where the 90s country singer has had to postpone or cancel tour dates because of his health. It’s been quite the up-and-down health journey for Chesnutt, who has been hospitalized or forced to have surgery multiple times since 2021. Here’s a quick run down of all the medical events the country music star has gone through: Late 2023: Hospitalized for an unknown illness Summer of 2024: Emergency quadruple bypass surgery Late 2025: Hospitalized with low sodium and high blood pressure Chesnutt also broke his back in 2021, and suffered nerve damage, which has prompted him to have multiple surgeries since. That period of his life also led to some very heavy drinking, as the country singer revealed to Big and Bubba recently in an interview: “A lot of friends of mine, they still drink. But they don’t drink like I did. I got real bad with it. I took it to the extreme. I went through a period there that was really bad after my back surgery. I just sat around and drank all the time. It was all I could do. I drank beer and some whiskey every now and then. Then I got to drinking wine. Then I graduated to the vodka. Me and ol’ Titos were best friends for a long time. I’d go through about a handle (a day).” A handle a day (1.75 liters) is truly hard to fathom, but clearly Chesnutt was doing all he could to ease the pain he was feeling from his back injury – and the multiple surgeries that followed. Fortunately, Chesnutt was able to get his drinking back under control. He’s actually been sober since November of 2023, and he’s closing in on three years without alcohol. He said later in the interview that he doesn’t really miss it all, nor does he ever feel pressured to drink. He’s just happy that he’s still around to enjoy life, and made it through the dark times: “My friends now that drink, we don’t have a problem, I don’t have a problem with it right now. I can be sitting in a bar and every person is in there drinking but me. It don’t bother me. I don’t crave it. I don’t need it. I feel so good man. Now, I wake up every day and thank the good Lord that I’m still kicking.” View this post on Instagram That’s great to hear from Mark Chesnutt. We here at Whiskey Riff are happy to hear that the country star that brought the world 14 number one hits, including “Bubba Shot the Jukebox” and “Goin’ Through the Big D,” has gotten his health and sobriety back to a place where he can continue to share his gift with his fans. I’m sure all country music fans feel the same way. He’s one of the icons of the 90s, and it’s great to see that Chesnutt feels happy and healthy in 2026.The post Mark Chesnutt Says He Drank A Handle Of Vodka A Day After His 2021 Back Surgery: “It Was All I Could Do” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.