You’d be mistaken if you thought Craig Morgan would start to lighten his workload when he hit 60.
While other artists may opt for a more relaxing beach getaway when the concert tour comes to a close, the country star finds himself most comfortable pushing himself beyond comfort zone. This past winter Morgan spent part of his downtime stitching himself up—literally—after a demanding daily routine of cutting trees and clearing paths in Alaska’s frigid winter conditions. For Morgan, a little blood is just a small portion of his productivity philosophy.
“In our society today, we’re not willing to accept pain,” he explains. “But if you teach yourself to embrace a certain level of pain, the reward on the other side is so much greater. You push yourself to realize that you can tolerate much more than you initially think you can.”
Morgan’s latest EP, American Soundtrack, was released on February 28. It features six songs that span themes of faith, family, resilience, and love of country. So, where did a man best recognized as one of country music’s favorite hitmakers, with songs like “Redneck Yacht Club,” “That’s What I Love About Sunday,” “International Harvester,” develop such a passion for pushing limits?
Morgan says part of it comes from his 20-year service in the U.S. Army. He’s also worked alongside the CIA as a soldier in Panama and has pursued sex traffickers in Thailand. In 2023, he re-enlisted in the Army at age 58, smashing, he says every test the military put in front of him.
“When I took the Army Combat Fitness Test, I knew there would be naysayers who thought that because I’m Craig Morgan, I’ll have an easy time,” he says. “So I was adamant about not just passing the ACFT, but I wanted to score really well, and I did.”
He says his high-energy lifestyle, whether it’s snowmobiling through Alaska or working on his Nashville farm keep him feeling decades younger than his age, which will come in handy as soon heads out on tour with Blake Shelton. Evidence of this he says when he worked with contemporary superstars Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson, on the senior country crooner’s on his 2023 remake-based EP, Enlisted. “None of them can keep up with me,” Morgan asserts. “I have high energy. People joke about it in our industry, but in general, people pick at me about my energy. I attribute it to my health habits.”
The formula for longevity post 60 is no secret for Morgan, who’s also run marathons and triathlons in the past. Constant movement is key, he says. That with solid sleep—keeps the music-making military veteran at the top of his game.
“No question, the military teaches you to push yourself beyond your limits, and that’s just a fact,” he says. “When you’re in an environment that is so stressful and physically demanding, sometimes you have no choice but to do that or quit. In that case, you don’t belong in that profession. I apply that same philosophy to everything I do in my physical life. I just don’t stop.”
