Noah Kahan's 'The Great Divide': From Burnout to Billboard's Peak
Noah Kahan candidly discusses rediscovering his passion for music, culminating in his first Billboard 200 No. 1 album, The Great Divide.
Noah Kahan has reached a new milestone. From local bars in Vermont to arenas, his third album, 2022’s Stick Season, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 two years later, transforming him into a stadium headliner.
But in a recent Rolling Stone cover story, the 29-year-old singer-songwriter opened up about the pressures of fame and how it nearly drove him away.
“Every cliché about music has proven so true for me,” he confessed. “Like, ‘You can get everything you want, and it’s still not going to do it!’”
Following his Stick Season tour in September 2024, Kahan felt overwhelmed by the prospect of a follow-up album. “Right after the tour, I was just sick of it,” he admitted. “This thing that’s supposed to be so fun and so rewarding is becoming tiring and making you anxious all the time.”
He considered a career change, contemplating psychology classes at a community college, substitute teaching, and even golf course maintenance. “I thought that would be such a therapeutic thing,” he explained.
Aaron Dessner, co-founder of The National and producer of Kahan’s new album, praised his talent. “It’s refreshing to me that someone like Noah has become a superstar because he’s the anti-idol,” Dessner said. “He’s not seeking it. He’s far more gifted than anyone might really know unless you’ve been up close to hear him sing. He’s one of the most brilliant songwriters we have today.”
During a late 2024 session at Dessner’s Long Pond studio in upstate New York, Kahan initially felt creatively drained. However, within an hour, he penned “Porch Light,” a standout track from the album, describing it as “this river of ideas.”
Months later, in March 2025, Kahan's struggles resurfaced in Joshua Tree, California. Living in a glass Airbnb, he experienced a period he calls his “infamous Joshua Tree OCD meltdown.”
Experiencing intrusive thoughts, Kahan consulted his therapist virtually and was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). “It was this real insidious disorder that I was struggling with,” he revealed. He realized, “You cannot leave behind what’s going on in your head no matter how far way you travel, or how beautiful your surroundings are.”
Currently, Kahan is in a much better place, according to his manager Drew Simmons. He recently achieved his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with The Great Divide. The album debuted with 389,000 equivalent album units in the U.S., marking the largest week for a rock album since 2014. It also had 215.4 million on-demand official streams, the largest streaming week of any album in 2026, propelling him to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart. He charted 21 songs from The Great Divide, including 12 in the top 40.
“You find out who you are in the moments when you’re alone,” he told RS, reflecting on his journey. “In the moments things are quiet, and you don’t have 30,000 people screaming that they love you. I needed to be brought back down to earth, and I think the process, as hard as it was, really did bring me back.”
If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
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