Chris Stapleton Releases ‘Fire Away’ Music Video, Brings Awareness To Mental Health
Chris Stapleton recently released his new music video for his song “Fire Away” off of his album Travelers, and hopes the video will help raise awareness to mental health issues.
The video, directed by Tim Mattia, features actors Ben Foster (The Finest Hours) and Margarita Levieva (Revenge) as a couple going through the ups and downs of their relationship. Eventually, Levieva’s character starts suffering from a mental illness and falls apart, attempting suicide on two separate occasions. The mission of the video, other than to go along with the song, is to bring awareness to mental health through the Campaign to Change Direction. At the end of the video, which Stapleton is also featured in as the bartender, the organization’s website reads across the screen.
According to CMT, Foster was the first to introduce Stapleton to the non-profit organization that calls attention to the five signs of those suffering with a mental illness – a change in personality, agitation, withdrawal, decline in personal care, and hopelessness.
How much do you actually know about @ChrisStapleton? Test your knowledge with some TRIVIA: https://t.co/LpEb2EPrdy pic.twitter.com/oYaq12kCjq
— CMT (@CMT) March 3, 2016
“We must change our culture if we are to succeed in saving lives and ending suffering,” Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, Founder and President of Give an Hour, said. “We must come to accept that mental health and mental illness are elements of the human condition – just as physical health and disease are.”
After Stapleton joined forces with Campaign to Change Direction, the organization posted a message to their website thanking the country music superstar for his help.
“We would like to thank Chris and Morgane Stapleton for their compassion, courage and willingness to step up to create this important story – and the entire Stapleton team for their support of our mission. We would also like to thank actors Ben Foster and Margarita Levieva for their inspired and compelling performances. Finally, we would like to thank Tim Mattia whose direction brought Chris’ vision into focus. By lending their talent and their voices, these fine artists are helping us change the culture of mental health in America.”
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Chris Stapleton is currently leading the nominations for the Academy of Country Music Awards. This is the first time Stapleton has ever been nominated for an ACM Award as an artist, and managed to snag a total of seven nominations- two nominations for Song of the Year (one as artist, one as songwriter) for “Nobody to Blame,” Male Vocalist of the Year, New Male Vocalist of the Year, two for Album of the Year for Traveller (as artist, and as producer), and Vocal Event of the Year for “Hangover Tonight” with Gary Allan.
Chris Stapleton’s Official “Fire Away” video is live! Check it out:https://t.co/6h8uZCLl7G pic.twitter.com/osR5X3nyjA
— Country Words (@Country_Words) March 3, 2016
Stapleton’s album Traveller was released back in May 2015, but just recently became a huge success, selling nearly 1 million copies. The album snagged the Album of the Year award at the 2015 Country Music Association Awards. It later went on to become the first album ever to re-enter the Billboard 200 at No. 1, with 177,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending November 5. Both Traveller and “Fire Away” are currently available for download on iTunes.
According to The Boot, Stapleton has a new song coming out later this month as part of Dave Cobb’s Southern Family concept album. “You Are My Sunshine” is a duet between Stapleton and his wife Morgane.
[Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images]
