Imagine you're a young musician. You've just finished recording the vocal tracks for your very first major label debut. So you're basically on top of the world. You're walking a high school friend back to her hotel room in downtown Nashville when suddenly three men cornered you in the shadows.

Atlantic Records is forced to indefinitely halt the album's release while he undergoes this agonizing physical rehabilitation. Yeah, and the physical toll is one thing, but the psychological whiplash is another. You go from fighting for your life in an ICU to almost immediately upon your recovery, becoming a platinum selling superstar. It's a crazy pivot because when Sticks and Stones finally hits the market in late 1991, the title track climbs the charts and hits number one by January 1992.

• You've just finished recording the vocal track ...