Chris Daughtry on sobriety, 'butt rock' and those Instagram thirst traps

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Set us as preferred Chris Daughtry flops down on a sofa in the bar at the Sunset Marquis, cracks a tall-boy energy drink and takes a much-needed glug.It’s not yet noon on a recent Tuesday, but the 46-year-old rock singer was up before dawn to make an appearance on KTLA’s morning news show, and now he’s got an appointment to talk with me before heading home to San Diego.“If I was smart, I would’ve come back here and taken a nap,” he says.

“But I’m not, and I didn’t.”Twenty years after the release of his debut album — a six-times-platinum smash that followed his fourth-place showing on Season 5 of “American Idol” — Daughtry has more going on than the vast majority of folks who triumphed on TV’s once-dominant singing competition: In July, he released a collection of rerecorded versions of some of his biggest hits, including “Home,” “It’s Not Over” and “What About Now”; that album followed a pair of EPs, both called “Shock to the System,” with songs inspired in part by the death of his stepdaughter, Hannah Price, who died by suicide in 2021.Next month, Daughtry will launch an acoustic tour on which $1 from every ticket will go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; before that, he’ll bring his full rock show to the Agua Caliente casino in Rancho Mirage on Wednesday night.We spoke about his music and his activism as well as something maybe slightly less important.What’s the story with these thirst traps you’ve been posting on Instagram?Man, I’m trying to get the attention of the right people.Which is who?James Gunn, Kevin Feige.

Hook a brother up — put me in a movie.Look, I was obsessed with superheroes from the time I was 5 years old, and that love of comic books and action films growing up pushed me into this obsession with bodybuilding and fitness.

I’m in ...