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Ashley Cooke shared an honest glimpse of her life — including her victories and her heartbreaks — on a new episode of Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe.
Cooke, 28, caught up with podcast host Kaitlyn Bristowe about “navigating family health struggles and her own rare heart condition” while continuing to tour and write new music. The pair also chatted about Cooke’s childhood, her newest project, her bond with Kelsea Ballerini, her first No. 1 (and the unexpected way it made her feel), her new relationship and more.
“I’ve worked my whole life to get a No. 1 song, to win a big award, to do all these things. And why, right when all these exciting things happen, does my dad get cancer for the fifth time, my mom have a heart attack, I have a heart condition, my sister goes through thyroid stuff, my boyfriend and I of two years break up?” Cooke shared during the podcast. She first began opening up about health scares, her heart diagnosis and more on TikTok over the summer (and later shared a heartfelt conversation with Morgan from The Bobby Bones Show). When Bristowe asked how the singer-songwriter could go on stage in the midst of heartbreak and health issues, Cooke explained that she’s “a version of myself,” but she’s able to “fully block it out” and focus on her performance.
The 2024 CMT Music Awards Breakthrough Female Video of the Year (“your place”) winner’s newest project “feels like her diary,” Bristowe noted as she shared a teaser of her conversation with Cooke.
Cooke released ace last month. She explained in a statement that “this 9-song project means more to me than anything I've done thus far. It's not my sophomore record quite yet… it's more of a bridge to it. A chronological story, a concept record about the deeply personal parts of the last 2.5 years (since my debut record). It's conversations with my friends/favorite co-writers about very real topics during a chapter that changed me to my core.”
“It's been about two and a half years since my debut record was released,” Cooke said, referring to 2023’s shot in the dark. “So many incredible, bucket-list things filled the days after with the best people I could ever imagine getting to share them with. But life has a funny way of spitting rain when you think it's gonna be a sunny day. I swear, one thing hit after another. I lost some of the most important people in my life, and health issues in my family piled up left and right. Love came, and love went.
“This music is derived from those real situations,” she continued. “It's brutal honesty. It's a story in chronological order. And it's a collection of songs welcoming you to the next chapter. This is ace. Make yourself at home.”