Image Courtesy CMALuke Bryan is opening up about the aftermath of his brother-in-law Ben Lee Cheshire‘s unexpected death last November. Ben was married to Luke’s late sister Kelly, who died in 2007. Now, Luke and his family are helping Kelly and Ben’s three children deal with the devastating loss. Their youngest son, 13-year-old Til, has come to live with Luke and his wife, Caroline, in Nashville. It’s been quite an adjustment for the entire family as Til joins Luke and Caroline’s young boys, Bo and Tate, in the household.
Luke says, “I went from having two boys in the house to having a 13-year-old boy in the house, which is a whole ‘nother set of learning that you have to do.”
Til has two older sisters, and Luke is thankful he has the means to fly them up to see their brother on a regular basis.
Says Luke, “It’s every day on the phone all day trying to talk with the family and figure out what to do, but it’s what you gotta do.”
Luke admits he and Caroline are exhausted at the end of every day figuring it all out, but Luke tries to stay positive and remember this is all part of God’s plan.
He admits, “It’s not what I want at all. I think we just rally around as a family.”
Luke has drawn support from the country music family, too. His friends in Lady Antebellum teamed up with songwriter Chris Stapleton to perform “Drink a Beer” on the CMT Artists of the Year special in early December. Luke recorded that song in memory of his sister Kelly and his brother, Chris, who was killed in a car accident in the mid-’90s. That performance aired live the same day as Ben’s funeral.
Luke says, “That night we were, as a family, watching all of that on TV and watching Lady A and Stapleton sing that. It was a big-time healing moment.”
As he continues to cope with the loss of his brother-in-law, Luke hopes his story will help people going through similar situations.
“We feel like if we just stay positive through this, maybe we’ll be a positive inspiration for people that had these things happen to ’em,” Luke says. “You just have to plow on and play the hand that’s dealt.”
Luke’s music career continues in high gear with the 2015 leg of his That’s My Kind of Night tour launching next week. He’ll release the new album Spring Break…Checkin’ Out on March 10. The release features five new songs as well as all six tracks from last year’s Spring Break EP.
Here is the track listing:
“My Ol’ Bronco” — new song
“Games” — new song
“She Get Me High”
“Spring Breakdown” — new song
“Good Lookin’ Girl”
“Checkin’ Out” — new song
“You and the Beach” — new song
“Night One”
“Like We Ain’t Ever”
“The Sand I Brought to the Beach”
“Are You Leaving with Him”
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