Russ Taff: The Full Conversation (2025 Year-End Review): Page 265
The Unfolding
Northwestern Media
4.9 • 868 Ratings
🗓️ 26 December 2025
⏱️ 98 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"Shame is a prison," Russ Taff says, and he lived in that prison for more than 40 years. To the world, Russ was a Gospel music legend: six GRAMMYs, 18 Dove Awards, and three Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductions. But behind the stage lights and accolades, he was hiding from pain, trapped in addiction, and silenced by the relentless voices of shame and self-hatred. In this deeply honest conversation, recorded around the dining table in his home in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, Russ shares the truth he kept secret for decades: while he sang songs about Jesus to millions, he was battling alcoholism in the dark. This is not just a story about addiction. It's a story about hope. About the supernatural healing that comes through love, and the power of God to break even the heaviest chains. Russ opens up about his abusive childhood, the pain that shaped him, and the redemption that's setting him free.
Show notes:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RussTaff
Website: https://russtaff.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/russtaffofficial/
"I Still Believe" Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpHdjcCfrSg
I Still Believe Book: https://www.amazon.com/Still-Believe-Wreckage-Recovery-Relentless/dp/1642931489
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Page 265 of the unfolding is the story of Rust Taff. |
| 0:05.3 | Guilt is something that you did wrong. |
| 0:07.6 | Shame tells you you are the thing that's wrong. |
| 0:10.1 | And that was instilling me at a very, very early age. |
| 0:12.7 | My dad, who never encouraged me and daily in that house, |
| 0:16.6 | because you're not worth a bullet shoot you with, |
| 0:18.4 | not worth the salt, it goes on your bed, |
| 0:19.9 | you will never amount to anything. God's story has been unfolding. Since the beginning of time. He invites you to be a |
| 0:30.0 | part of it. Another page in the Unfolding. |
| 0:39.9 | Hey, this is Meredith Foster. |
| 0:44.1 | Welcome to this special year-end episode of The Unfolding. |
| 0:53.9 | For more than 40 years, Rustaf lived in a prison of shame, hiding from pain, isolating himself from others, and trapped in a secret addiction. |
| 0:58.8 | To the world, he was one of the most successful Christian music artists of all time, |
| 1:01.5 | six Grammy Awards, 18 Dev Awards, and induction into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame |
| 1:05.2 | and unprecedented three times as a solo artist with the Imperials and with the Gaither vocal band. |
| 1:12.0 | But inside, it all felt empty. |
| 1:14.9 | Nothing could fill the void. |
| 1:16.6 | Nothing could silence the voices of self-hatred. |
| 1:19.7 | The only thing that quieted them, even for a moment, was alcohol. |
| 1:23.7 | Russ was singing songs for Jesus, but he was living a secret life as an alcoholic. |
| 1:28.9 | Earlier this year, I traveled to Bell Buckle, Tennessee, population of about 420, |
| 1:34.1 | where Russ and his wife Tori live in a beautiful Victorian home. |
... |
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