Singer Joe Nichols has recently returned to the stage after a stay in a rehabilitation clinic. Nichols was suffering from substance abuse. He speaks exclusively with CMT's Katie Cook during this week's CMT Insider about his addiction to alcohol and how his life has changed.

"I couldn't think of anything to write, I couldn't play anything... but this song kept repeating over and over in my mind. It's the only song I could get through," says Nichols of the Merle Haggard song "If I Could Only Fly," which he recorded as a duet with Lee Ann Womack on his current album Real Things.

The first of the two-part interview airs Sat., Jan. 26, on CMT.

Labels: Joe Nichols