Sam Hunt has opened up about his 2019 DUI arrest and the effect it had on his life and marriage in the new track, “The Night I Got Locked Up.” On March 14th, Hunt took to Nasheville’s Ryman Auditorium to play an acoustic performance of the track for the annual Country Radio Seminar. The Seminar is a three day gathering in Nashville that brings together artists, journalists, radio programmers, and many other country music insiders for panels, interviews, and to showcase performances that set the agenda for the rest of the year in country music.
The song sings of Hunt’s arrest and his fear that his wife might leave him, The lyrics of the chorus read, “The night I got locked up / Everything went wrong / The night I got messed up / I should’ve just stayed home / Picked up my phone / What can I say / Well, I thought that you’d walk away / But you stood by your man / Like Tammy Wynette / Did everything / You could’ve just quit / No, but you showed me love / Kept going when the going got tough / The night I got locked up,”
Nashville police originally arrested Hunt in the morning hours of November 21st, 2019, after they responded to a report that a vehicle was heading in the wrong direction on a street in East Nashville. An officer that was on the scene stated that Hunt had bloodshot eyes, smelled of alcohol, and gave his credit card number when asked for his driver’s license. His blood alcohol level was at .173, the legal limit in Tennessee is .08.
Hunt ultimately pleaded guilty in August of 2021 and was given a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, with all of the time except for 48 hours being suspended, he agreed to serve those hours in the DUI Education Centers.
Meanwhile Hunt and his wife had their first child, Lucy Louise, in June of 2022. News that came after his wife originally filed for divorce in February of 2022, stating that Hunt had inappropriate marital conduct and adultery. She ultimately called off the divorce in May of 2022.
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