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Luke Bryan Says Comforting A Teary-Eyed, 9-Year-Old Fan Who Had Just Lost His Sister Was One Of The “Most Beautiful” Moments Of His Country Music Career
Simply powerful.
Despite all the criticism surrounding his music, Luke Bryan has remained a key piece in country music for nearly two decades at this point. As the fifth-highest-selling country artist of all time, according to the RIAA, the “Rain Is a Good Thing” singer has undoubtedly experienced success that few artists can even dream of having.
With that being said, however, it’s never come easy for the Georgia native. While, of course, you have your standard internet trolls that like to criticize Bryan for just about everything from his musical output to his on-stage personality, it’s the real-life tragedies he’s faced throughout his life that have defined him as a person.
In what can only be described as a long string of misfortune, Bryan has lost his older brother, Chris, who died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 26 in 1996, his older sister, Kelly, who died suddenly at the age of 39 in 2007 and Kelly’s husband, Ben Lee Cheshire, who also died suddenly at the age of 46 in 2014. The loss of both Kelly and Ben would also prompt the 49-year-old singer to adopt their three kids, Til, Jordan and Kris.
The incredible amount of loss throughout his life was most famously highlighted during his emotional performance of the Chris Stapleton-penned “Drink A Beer” at the 2013 CMA Awards as a tribute to both Chris and Kelly, which has remained one of the most memorable moments of his career to this date.
Given the fact that Bryan has experienced so much loss throughout his life, he recently made an appearance on CNN’s All There Is Live with Anderson Cooper to discuss his music, faith and grieving process.
Early in the interview, Cooper would note how open Bryan has been about the losses in his life and ultimately asked him what has made him so open about it over the years. The “Do I” singer would go on to explain that one of the key moments for him was a touching moment with a nine-year-old fan years ago at a meet and greet.
As Bryan explains, during the meet and greet, the nine-year-old came up to him with tears in his eyes and asked him how he gets through life after the loss of a loved one, given that he had just lost his sister a couple of months ago.
“One of my most beautiful moments I ever had as a country singer is [when] I was in North Carolina, and I’m doing a meet and greet. You’re meeting fans and taking pictures, and there’s a lot of chaos. But this boy, he was nine years old. He looked up at me, and he had these big tears in his eyes. He looked at me, and he goes, ‘Mr. Luke, I lost my sister a couple of months ago, and I want to know how you get through life?'”
And when that nine-year-old told me that, I just dropped down on my knees and did the best job I could in that moment to help that young man. I said, ‘Buddy, you talk to your sister like she is still here. You treat her like she is here, every day of your life. You talk to her when you go to bed.”
Hearing the young fan’s story and bravery, Bryan would tell Cooper that the boy reaffirmed his need to talk about his losses and share his story with the public, hoping that he could help those who’ve experienced similar losses with their grieving process.
“When that boy did that, it really affirmed my need to talk about my loss. I mean, when you’re able to touch a kid that age, I was like, ‘Yeah, anytime I can talk about this, it’s the right thing to do.’ And there’s just so much of that going on in the world, and I think, I think some people have been insulated from it, thank God. But then the people that have tragedy, I hope they can hear our stories and, and understand they’re not alone in their journeys with it.”
You know, I looked up at his parents- and his parents, they went there knowing that he wanted to ask me that- and gosh, there wasn’t a dry [eye]. I mean, it was one of the most powerful things that I’ve ever been a part of, and I just did my best in the moment, and it really, really changed me a lot, too, in that moment that I was able to help him.”
During the interview, Bryan would also reveal the details surrounding Kelly’s sudden death in 2007 and the impact the tragic loss had on him and his family. You can read that here.
Watch the full podcast here:
The post Luke Bryan Says Comforting A Teary-Eyed, 9-Year-Old Fan Who Had Just Lost His Sister Was One Of The “Most Beautiful” Moments Of His Country Music Career first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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