SHINEDOWN Singer: 'My Number One Priority In Life Is My 10-Year-Old Son'

In a brand new interview with Celeb Mix, SHINEDOWN frontman Brent Smith was asked how he measures success for himself. He responded: "Success is interesting for me, because my number one priority in life is my 10-year-old son, who is going to be turning 11 this month. I think how my success is determined is by how much time I can give to my son.

"I work really, really hard, because I love what I do," he continued. "I tour heavily, but so do the other three guys that I'm in the band with, and they have families and they have homes and responsibilities. But all of our families understand that this band provides for our families. The ladies in our lives, those women are extraordinary, because they really understand it and they get it.

"For me, I'm one in a band of four, and I sold my house, so I don't own a home and I'm also single because I'm on the road all the time and the guys in the band look to me to have the design for the architecture of the band and the roads we go down and where we need to go next.

"I think for me, I just want to make sure that I never, ever put anything out that is not 100 percent how I feel and how I want to be represented or what I think is genuine and authentic, because my son is going to see it," he added.

"I keep it very private in the world that he lives in — like teachers at school, people around him, they don't really know what his dad does, because me and his mother, who are really really good friends even though we're not together anymore, have a respect for each other and she knows that I want him to have a childhood. I want him to have an upbringing that is healthy, not only physically and mentally but where he is not pigeonholed into one particular group because of who his dad is. That's my success: making sure he has a childhood, making sure he gets everything he needs for himself, but also making sure he understands that he has to work for it. So, my success is bringing up my son and him being a great man when it's time for him to become one. He grows up faster each and every day that I see him; he gets like an inch taller. He's so amazing on so many levels, so I measure my success by him."

Almost a decade ago, Smith credited his son, Lyric Santana Smith, with saving his life. "I stopped doing drugs," he said. "I was immensely addicted to cocaine and oxycontin. I was being the clichéd rock star. Cocaine and oxycontin I got hooked on real bad, but my son saved me from my vanity and selfishness. I'm lucky to be alive. I wasn't knocking on death's door; I was in the room doing shots with death."

"Attention Attention", SHINEDOWN's sixth studio album, debuted at No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums chart back in May. The follow-up to 2015's "Threat To Survival" tells the story of a character who starts out defeated and slowly overcomes pain and personal struggles and becomes confident at the end. The album also lyrically touches upon Smith's former drug addiction and bassist Eric Bass's depression.

SHINEDOWN will embark on a U.S. headlining tour in February. Support on the trek will come from PAPA ROACH and ASKING ALEXANDRIA.

Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine