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Luke Bryan has suffered great tragedy in his life, losing his sister, his brother and his brother-in-law. Tonight on ABC, Bryan discusses losing his loved ones. He said that he was set to move to Nashville at age 19 in 1996, but just before moving, his brother Chris was killed in a car accident. His brother’s death caused his move to be postponed and “derailed” the Nashville plans. Bryan then said his father pushed him, saying he needed to chase his dreams. He said they saw how fragile life was with his brother’s death and decided to live life to the fullest. Nashville was liberating for Bryan and he got a record deal with Capitol Records. Sadly, when he first got to play the Grand Ole Opry, it was the last time he would ever be with his sister Kelly. She died shortly after and in 2013, Bryan told ABC News that the cause remains undetermined. Kelly died seven years after Bryan’s brother’s death.
Bryan has said that he had to watch his mother and family go back to square one because of his sister’s death. But, one thing that Bryan keeps in mind in dealing with these hardships, is, “You have to honor their memory by living and you have to be a positive light.” Bryan says that he has dark days where he wishes his siblings were around. His brother-in-law, Ben Cheshire, also passed away, dying in 2014, so he and his wife Caroline are helping raise his sister’s kids.
When taking in Bryan’s sister’s three kids, Caroline told Robin Roberts, “We never thought twice about it. You know, it was never something that he and I had to sit down and talk about. ‘Should we take this on?’ We just did that.” With the death of brother-in-law Cheshire, Bryan told ABC in 2015 that, “As a family, we shake our heads and we just can’t believe it. But, with me, you know, I just have to chalk it up to, ‘Well, this is God’s plan.’ I have to pray that people that have had similar situations can maybe look at my family and see me positively dealing with it. Maybe we’ll be a positive inspiration for people that have had these things happen to ‘em.” Bryan also opened up about life with his sister’s children on an episode of The Ellen Show. He said, “We feel honored that we are so blessed to take him in. He has two older sisters, too, so now I’m kind of like, I’ve gotta do the whole ‘scare whoever, the boys that they are talking to.’ I have to play that role, too.”
Cheshire remained close to Bryan and his family even after the death of wife Kelly, as reported by People. According to Us Weekly, Cheshire’s cause of death was not immediately revealed, but Bryan says the cause was a heart attack. In addition to Bryan’s family tragedies, Caroline has had some in her life as well. Caroline lost her infant niece, Sadie Brett Boyer, in February 2017, according to People. Boyer reportedly suffered from unspecified issues with her kidneys, liver and heart. With all the tragedy that the Bryan family has gone through, he says that they’ll never get back to 100%, but they’re always working their way to 75%.