Christian Singer Russ Taff Credits Jesus for Carrying Him through Addiction Struggles

For Russ Taff, Simon & Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence is far more than a melancholy classic -- it's a first-person reflection. The song's opening line -- "hello darkness, my old friend" -- evokes his struggle with alcoholism and relapse, conjuring the image of him stepping into a lonely hotel room after singing about Christ to a sold-out crowd, only to fall back into the addiction pit once again.

"You think you disappointed everybody. But He never walked away from me," Taff said of Jesus. "And I tried to walk away from Him."

Taff's latest album, Cover Story, is a collection of cover songs that reflect his life's journey -- the bad, the good, and the inspiring. The Sound of Silence is one of them, but so are Depeche Mode's People Are People, The National's Demons and the B.B. King/U2 song When Love Comes to Town. It includes 11 tracks. 

The 71-year-old Taff is a legend of Christian music, a six-time Grammy and 18-time Dove Award winner whose soaring vocals have defined both group and solo careers with The Imperials, the Gaither Vocal Band, and a lengthy run as a solo artist.

His battle with alcohol addiction is also part of his story, as recounted in a book and a movie, each titled I Still Believe.

The lyrics to The Sound of Silence, he said, describe a "familiar" place from his past -- recalling his battle with alcohol addiction even while touring the country on Christian concert stages.

"You open that door to that hotel room again, and you've been there many times and walked away from it, and you'd have long periods of sobriety, and then something would happen," he said. "... It was a familiar place, unfortunately, but I knew that place, and I understood that place."

Even in his darkest moments, Taff said, God never gave up on him.

"I tried to say, 'Don't come in here. Don't come in here. I'm so embarrassed that you would walk into this hotel room and see me.' But He walked right in there. You know, 'Russ, I love you, Russ, I want to help you.' And oh, man, that was so hard. I was at this lowest point.

"And He said, 'Russ, that's why I died, to give you power to do it right.'" 

Taff included the 1971 song Grandma's Hands by Bill Withers on the album as a tribute to his own grandmother, a source of refuge during Taff's childhood. She knew what others in town did not -- that Taff's father, a preacher, battled alcoholism.

"I remember I would go over, and I'd sit on that front porch, and I would talk to grandma, and she was an old Pentecostal woman," he said. "She would lean over and comb her silver hair that went down to her waist -- and she'd roll it up and put it in a bun, and she would say, 'Son, it's going to be alright. I know it doesn't look like it, but it's going to be alright.' And I hung on to her. She died when I was 12. …Those first 12 years of my life, she was my sanctuary."

Taff's own recovery spanned years and years, he said, with help from Alcoholics Anonymous and therapy.

"But I tell you, I had no idea you could be this happy -- I had no idea. These last 18-19 years -- they have just been a gift from God. And I love my wife so desperately, and I'm enjoying every day."

His openness about his past has inspired fans to share their own painful stories -- confessions about drug addiction, infidelity, and deep personal wounds, he said. At concerts, fans sometimes whisper to him their struggles, grateful to be understood.

"When somebody has the courage to be honest, it encourages other people to be honest."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Russ Taff (@russtaffofficial)

Photo Credit: ©Imagine House/Vere Music

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

Originally published April 01, 2025.