A rising country singer recently opened up about how her “personal life was crumbling” after her hit debut album.
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Ashley Cooke released her debut album, Shot in the Dark, in 2023. The “your place” singer’s dreams seemed to be coming true, winning a CMT Award for Breakthrough Female Video of the Year and kicking off her first headlining tour.
Despite the whirlwind success, Cooke’s life was unraveling.
“A lot happened in those two years — and I started to find myself walking on stage to sing songs from my debut record and getting back off stage and just feeling so far away from that because my personal life was crumbling,” the 28-year-old told PEOPLE.
This experience motivated Cooke to create ace, a candid nine-track album delving into the tough realities of coming of age.
“All I could write about for the first couple months of writing for this next project was about what happened,” the singer told the outlet. “The reality of my dad’s cancer diagnosis and my mom’s heart issues and my own heart issues … and my boyfriend of two years, who was my rock through all of that, we broke up during the process. I also lost my grandmas in the same year.”
Meanwhile, Cooke was diagnosed with Brugada syndrome, a rare but potentially life-threatening heart condition.
“I just needed to get it off my chest,” she continued. “I’ll still feel justified and validated and proud of the art that I’ve made throughout a tough situation, you know?”
How Ashley Cooke’s New Album Helped Her Deal with Life Issues
The album begins with “gettin’ old,” where Cooke “covers all the bases,” singing about her dad’s diagnosis, her mom’s health issues, her grandparents dying, and her breakup.
The record then moves through her breakup story, concluding with “tin foil hat,” which describes when “you see your ex in a photo with somebody else for the first time.”
“This was a very real situation for me,” she admitted. “You start to spiral and you start to freak out and think, ‘Oh my God, they’ve moved on.’ I’m gonna be alone forever.”
Meanwhile, following her diagnosis, Cooke has chosen to focus on taking each day as it comes, which has given her a new perspective on what truly matters.
“I’m just gonna live my life as if I don’t have this thing. And all of my family and friends were like, ‘Hey, this is a gray cloud that doesn’t need to be a gray cloud,'” she told PEOPLE. “I think learning about that made me lean into this era even more of… it just feels like there’s a little bit less of, ‘This project has to do well and what if it’s a radio single?'”
“I just kind of don’t give as much of s—. And I think that’s really a fun place to be where I’m just creating art and I care about the people that care about the music,” she added.
“Everything genuinely feels like the sun is shining again in the most beautiful way,” the singer concluded.
Cooke’s new album ace dropped last month.