Luke Bryan, 47, says taking a break after brother’s death 20 years ago prepared him for dealing with ‘shady people’ when fame hit: ‘Can’t question fate’

Luke Bryan is doing better than ever these days with a Las Vegas residency, his Country On tour and a starring role on American Idol.

But when the 47-year-old country music star was young, her career came to a standstill with the death of a family member.

However, that downtime turned out to help him in the end, as he was more mature by the time he finally made his way to Nashville at age 25.

It wasn’t until he was 30 years old that he had his first hit song.

“I think at 20 I would have processed everything very differently, with much less maturity,” he said. people magazine.

‘When I moved to Nashville when I was 25, I could read people better. He could navigate the gloomy crowd. He helped me a lot in those aspects,’ shared the father of two.

Luke and Chris: At twenty, he hopes to start his career in Nashville, but his older brother Chris, pictured right, was killed in a car accident at age 26.

His loss brought him maturity: “I think at 20 I would have processed everything very differently, with much less maturity,” he told People magazine. ‘When I moved to Nashville when I was 25, I could read people better. He could navigate the gloomy crowd. It helped me a lot in those aspects,’ shared the father of two

He added: “When I was younger, I wouldn’t have really known who I was as an artist.

“Back then, I was just singing other people’s songs and trying to figure out what I want to be,” he admitted.

Now I know that the main thing is to do everything possible to tell your story in the most authentic and close way. I can’t go back and question any of the stars or fate on how it all came to be. I look back and am proud of my rise to get here.

Luke began acting as a teenager in his hometown of Leesburg, Georgia.

When he was 19 years old, he hoped to start his career in Nashville, but his older brother, Chris, was killed in a car accident at the age of 26.

Luke stayed with his family in Georgia to grieve. During that time he graduated from college and met his wife Caroline, 43, whom he married in 2006.

Caroline helped pay the bills while he worked on his music career.

It also took some time. It wasn’t until he was 30 that his hit song All My Friends Say came out. Then came Born Here, Live Here, Die Here from 2020 which brought him more fame.

He has worked hard to get where he is.

Happy Couple: The singer with wife Caroline Boyer at the 2018 CMT Music Awards at Bridgestone Arena in 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee

Mini Lukes: Bryan and his wife have two sons, Thomas ‘Bo’ Boyer and Tatum ‘Tate’ Christopher

I earned it the old-fashioned way: by working hard. A lot of people have supported and helped me along the way, and I hope they can enjoy the journey too,” said the star.

In 2015, another tragedy occurred when her sister Cheshire died. Bryan and his wife adopted their nieces and nephew Jordan, then 20, Kris, then 16, and Til, then 13.

These days, Bryan loves to perform no matter how big or small the crowd.

“When I had 100 people in the room, I had a great time, and tonight it will be the same,” he says.

‘The day you stop loving him, it’s time to move on. Fortunately I have never had those feelings. It’s hard enough getting old from being in front of 20,000 people.

‘For most of my career I went there, I had to prove myself. So it’s really liberating to go, I am who I am,’ the country singer, who just announced a final run of shows at Resorts World Theatre, told People.

‘On your good days, your fans will have your back. They will also be there for you on those bad days.

On stage: Bryan performs during the Windy City Smokeout at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois in mid-July.

Your Show: Seen from right with, from left, Ryan Seacrest, Katy Perry, Iam Tongi and Lionel Richie

And she loves working at Resorts World Las Vegas, where she just added new dates: December 29, 30 and 31 and January 3, 5 and 6.

“I think there’s a large percentage of the public that just comes to see what a country show is like. And the beauty of Las Vegas is, if I want to spend 20 minutes playing songs on the piano, there are 5,000 people in a theater,” she said.

“I really enjoyed being able to show the ability to tell jokes and get out of my sleeve a bit.”

Following his Las Vegas dates, the singer will travel to Cancun for his annual Crash My Playa festival, January 17-20.

This month, Luke canceled his third show in a row as he continues to battle an ongoing ‘head cold’ in the midst of his latest tour.

The star announced Friday that he had to cancel two of his Country On Tour dates in Boise, Idaho and Salt Lake City, Utah as a result of his illness.

And on Sunday, he activated his account on what used to be known as Twitter to reveal that he had also had to cancel his planned concert in George, Washington.

He was scheduled to headline the Sunday night show of the three-day Watershed country music festival, held annually in George.

However, when his illness sidelined him that night, Lainey Wilson stepped into his shoes for the 9:15 p.m. performance.