One month, Cody Johnson is blowing the roof off arenas. The next, he is in an emergency room with a ruptured eardrum, being told to stop everything.
The injury hit during a brutal sinus and respiratory infection. The pressure got so bad his eardrum actually burst. Overnight, the guy known for some of the loudest, most honest shows in country music had to cancel the rest of his 2025 dates and head straight into surgery.
By late November, the eardrum had healed, but Cody admitted the recovery messed with his head. His hearing felt “funny” and “irritating.” For a perfectionist who lives on stage, that is torture.
And then something nobody expected happened.
He walked into the 2025 CMA Awards unable to perform a note… and walked out as Male Vocalist of the Year, beating names like Chris Stapleton and Luke Combs. While fans worried about his future, Nashville quietly crowned him one of the best voices in the format.
Cody says the forced time off did something wild: his voice now sounds “better than ever.”
Cody Johnson Gives Update After Ear Surgery and Talks About His Mental Health
To really feel the weight of it, you have to see him in a quiet moment, talking straight into the camera after surgery. In this short update, Cody explains the decision to cancel shows, describes how “funny” and distorted everything still sounds, and admits how much the forced silence messes with his head.
Cody Johnson Shares New Update After Ear Injury Surgery
Everything he is fighting to protect shows up in “The Painter,” the song that helped push him to Male Vocalist of the Year. You hear the soft, almost spoken lines, then that huge chorus that needs every bit of his range. It is also a love letter to Brandi, the same woman holding down the fort while he heals.