Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne Reveals Severe Depression Battle: ‘I Considered Quitting Music’
Brothers Osborne singer T.J. Osborne has been in the spotlight quite a bit recently since coming out in public as gay in February of 2021, and while he has been able to live more openly than ever before, his brother and musical partner, John Osborne, has been keeping a secret of his own. In a new interview, John reveals that he has struggled with anxiety and depression so crippling that it threatened to end his career in music.
In an interview with Anthony Mason that is slated to air on CBS Sunday Morning on Sunday (April 18), T.J. Osborne admits he was worried about coming out right to the end, when he finally made the announcement via Time.
"But I think once I finally, like, made the decision to do what I was going to do, I felt very sure in that,” he tells Mason. "But it’s just really the fear of the unknown."
He feared they might lose fans, but says he's actually gotten "an incredible amount of support."
John Osborne talks about his depression and anxiety for the first time in the interview, part of which will also air on Monday (April 19) via CBS This Morning. The situation reached a critical point as the sibling duo were going into the studio to record their most recent album, Skeletons.
Osborne called their manager, he recounts, “And I told him, I’m like, I mean, ‘We can’t go into the studio. I don’t know what’s wrong with me – I don’t know why I’m not happy. I’m depressed. My anxiety is through the roof. I can’t sleep. My ears are ringing.’”
T.J. admits that he was "big time" concerned about his brother, who was visibly unhappy during their touring cycle leading up to the project. “I remember we were on stage … I just look at him and tell he did not wanna be there, y'know? And that’s when I was like, ‘Wow, like, we need to go home now.’”
Brothers Osborne ended up having to cancel dates and regroup so that John could address his issues, which he says he did "with a lot of therapy, a lot of self-help, a lot of love from my friends and family — I was able to kinda get to a better place so we can finish the album."
"But I — and this is the God’s honest truth, going into this record, I considered quitting music,” he states. “Which is something I never in my life thought I would want to do."
The brothers poured all of that personal emotion into the recording of Skeletons, and the result is an acclaimed project that has earned them a nomination for Album of the Year at the 2021 ACM Awards, which are set to take place on Sunday night. They are also nominated for Duo of the Year, and they will take the stage to perform during the broadcast.
The 2021 ACM Awards air live on CBS and stream live on Paramount+. Sign up for Paramount+ here.