The 22-year-old country singer has been on a rapid rise, but says he needs to prioritize his mental health
From the jump, Wyatt Flores has made mental health advocacy a part of his songwriting and live performances. His song “Please Don’t Go” became a hit with fans for its vulnerable message to a loved one to not take their own life, and he recently released a cover of the Fray’s similarly minded 2006 hit “How to Save a Life.” On Monday, Flores told followers in a lengthy post on Instagram that “the sacrifices I’ve made to get the opportunity to be on stage have caught up to me” and that he was rescheduling some concerts.
“It’s been almost exactly a year since Please Don’t Go went viral. I know most people don’t understand what goes on in my mind up on that stage. Because you all have made my dreams come true, I’ve given everything I have to keep touring, writing, and recording. Since November, I’ve been struggling with the feeling of feeling nothing,” Flores wrote. “At the end of the day, I’m human and no one is built to run this hard without taking care of themselves while feeling this much adrenaline.”
He went on to cite a recent concert in Kansas City, Missouri, where he broke down onstage, and also shared video of the moment, writing: “This video will always be a reminder to me the importance of prioritizing self-care and mental health.”
“I’m sorry to Kansas City for being the show I finally realized what’s been going on with myself and that it had to come out in front of y’all. I can’t sit on stage and tell y’all to go live your life and do what makes you feel alive when I’m not doing the same. It’s been breaking my heart, because I’ve been confused on why I’ve felt numb to the one thing that has made me feel most alive,” he wrote.
Flores captioned his post by informing fans that his Feb. 21 tour date in Oxford, Ohio, has been canceled and that he’ll be rescheduling shows slated for later this week in Detroit and Toronto.
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“It’s hard to admit these things because of everything y’all have given me, and I don’t want to sound ungrateful. I’ve been chasing after dreams and along the way, I realized I don’t know what I was chasing or who I really am beyond all of this,” Flores wrote. “Not only is this a reminder to myself, but it should be a reminder to everyone. Take care of yourself before you take care of others, and I’ll be back before too long. Love y’all.”
More and more, artists in the country sphere are speaking openly about their mental health. In October, “Truck Bed” singer Hardy canceled two concerts and rescheduled a third, citing “serious anxiety” and panic attacks as a result of a 2022 bus accident.
