Former Maverick City singer Chandler Moore has spoken about his childhood abuse for the first time - and how it led him to rehab in 2023. George Luke says Moore’s openness should remind Christians that our leaders - however prominent - are human too
Ever since their debut single, ’Man of your word’, landed in 2020, Maverick City Music has been an unstoppable force in Christian music. And one voice in particular has emerged as the star of the show: the singer, songwriter and worship leader Chandler Moore.
Moore, 31, grew up as a pastor’s kid. By the age of 16, he was music director at a small church in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. This was where he experienced “a personal encounter with God,” which also inspired a passion for studying the Bible. Looking to build a music career, Moore sang backing vocals for Gospel stars Travis Greene and Tye Tribbett (for whom he also wrote some songs), and released several singles of his own.
You can’t heal what you won’t let anyone see
But his big break came when he attended a series of songwriting camps in 2018 created to bring Christian musicians and songwriters together with the aim of developing a fresh approach to Christian music. These became the genesis of Maverick City Music, of which Moore was a founding member.
Maverick City had bold intentions to bridge two musical strands that had always run parallel to each other: Gospel music (ie songs about Jesus sung by black people) and Contemporary Christian Music - or CCM - (ie songs about Jesus sung by white people). For a while, it seemed as if they had succeeded. Hit followed hit, and Mav City’s accolades grew to include five Grammys and six Dove Awards.
Coming apart
But just when they seemed unstoppable, things began to unravel. In October 2025, Moore quit Maverick City and filed a lawsuit against CEO and former manager Norman Gyamfi, whom he accused of fraud, forgery and stealing $800,000 in royalties.
Moore announced his exit via an Instagram post, saying: “I’ve made the bittersweet decision to end my relationship with Maverick City Music…When we started Mav, I was grateful to have community and belonging while fulfilling my dream of making music that would help people experience God. And we did that…in ways I couldn’t have imagined.”
That post was the second Instagram bombshell Moore dropped. The first had come a month earlier. On 29 September 2025, the singer announced that he had spent 40 days in rehab back in 2023. “Those 40 days in the wilderness wrecked me in the best and worst ways,” he wrote. “I met myself in the most painful, yet most beautiful way. I met God in a way that stripped me down. I found people who didn’t flinch at my story. And God Himself walked into the pit with me and refused to leave until I could breathe again.”
Moore’s story of childhood abuse - and how he ended up in rehab - is the subject of a recent episode of Miles Adcox’s Human School podcast series. There’s a lot to unpack in the video, which is over 100 minutes long. Adcox is also an abuse survivor, and there’s something special about listening to two people who’ve been through the fire and come out the other side talk candidly about their experiences.
In one particularly poignant moment, Moore reads a note that his mother wrote to him in rehab, saying how proud she was of him. Earlier on in the podcast, he mentions that although other relatives had struggled with addictions, he was the first in his family to enter rehab. Moore sees going public about the abuse he suffered and his rehab journey as part of a bigger healing process. Simply put, he says: “You can’t heal what you won’t let anyone see.”
Honestly human
Moore’s honesty and willingness to be vulnerable are to be commended. But the whole thing reminded me that, as a body, there is a lot about the Christian community that still hasn’t changed or improved – especially in how we treat those among us who we perceive to be celebrities or role models.
God Himself walked into the pit with me and refused to leave
Back in 2013, Premier Gospel’s breakfast show launched a series titled #LivingWith, in which Christians with life-changing circumstances spoke about how they negotiated everyday life. Alongside issues such as dyslexia, widowhood and being in a wheelchair, one of the most heartfelt stories came from Matt Brooks, who spoke about being a pastor’s kid. Listening to Moore was like listening to Brooks say pretty much the same things 13 years earlier.
It’s heartening to see that after years of enabling other people find some solace through his musical gifts, Chandler Moore has been able to find a little of that peace in his own life. That’s good. But more than anything else, his appearance on this podcast is yet another reminder that Christians need space to be open about trauma, and that more of us could benefit from some therapy. The lessons for Chandler Moore’s fans – or those of any other Christian artist - remain the same too: give your creatives space to be human.
