Steel Magnolia’s Joshua Scott Jones Details Battle With Drugs

Joshua Scott Jones, who is best known as one-half of the duo, Steel Magnolia, entered rehab in 2011 to deal with his substance abuse issues. But while the singer has remained mostly quiet about his personal battle, he is now sharing details about what led him to finally get the help he needed.

Jones says his pivotal moment came in September of 2011, when he was alone in the presidential suite at the Hyatt in San Diego, drinking a beer in the morning after a night of non-stop partying, and he realized how out of control his behavior had become.

"No one wanted to be around me," he acknowledges to People Country. "I had alienated everybody ... On any given weekend, it was pills, booze, and once the party started, it didn't stop."

The tunesmith admits he considered committing suicide that morning, jumping 42 floors to his death.

"It went through my head," he concedes. "But I knew it would be a mess, and I didn't want anybody to see me like that. I was like, 'I can't end it like this.'"

Instead, Jones made a decision that morning to enter rehab, and turn his life around.

"It was the most difficult thing of my adult life," the 33-year-old admits. "But I needed to change. Something had to give."

Jones opted to enter rehab in the fall of 2011, instead of serving as the opening act on Reba McEntire's All the Women I Am Tour. But while his journey came at a heavy cost, including the end of his engagement with his Steel Magnolia partner, Meghan Linsey, he says he is happy to be clean and sober.

"I used to think I needed a drink to do a great show or smoke pot to write a great song. It's not true. It's the opposite," he notes. "I feel and enjoy things so much more."

Jones is releasing his own solo album, 'The Healing,' on June 3, which he says will give listeners an intimate look into the highs and lows of the past few years.

“I feel like at this point in my life I don’t want to be anything but candid,” he says. “This record certainly reflects my headspace over the last few years and tells the story of what I’ve gone through, especially the title track of the record, ‘The Healing.’ Although I’ve been near the top before in my career, I’m looking forward to experiencing it all again; this time clean, clear and healthy.”

The record's debut single, 'Honk (If You're Tonky),' was released earlier this year. Download the single here, and pre-order the entire album here.