Heavy/ABC Luke Bryan
Country superstar and “American Idol” judge Luke Bryan will be back on stage in a matter of days, but he looks forward each year to a little downtime around the holidays, especially after such a busy 2023.
“Mainly the holidays is just kind of slowing down, being around the house, hopefully not having this crazy, crazy busy schedule,” he told his record label, UMG Nashville.
Spending time with family is huge for Bryan, who shares two boys — Thomas “Bo” Boyer Bryan, 15, and Tatum “Tate” Christopher Bryan, 12. In 2014, he and his wife Caroline also took in their nephew and college-aged nieces — Til, Jordan and Kris — after they lost both of their parents. Bryan’s brother-in-law,Ben Lee Cheshire died suddenly at age 46 and his wife Kelly, Bryan’s older sister, had already tragically died in 2007 at the age of 39, per ET Online.
One of the ways the family has thrived amidst so much tragedy is by treasuring time together and holding true to some of their favorite traditions, especially around the holidays. And Bryan revealed he definitely has a few favorites.
Here’s what you need to know:
Luke Bryan Loves His Family’s Christmas Eve Pajama Party
Though many families across American head to candlelight church services or prepare traditional holiday meals on Christmas Eve, Bryan’s crew can be found in their pajamas on their family farm in Nashville.
“We have a pajama night and we do chili dogs on Christmas Eve, and we’ve always done that,” he told UMG, adding that he and his mom shop for ingredients beforehand.
“She makes me go shop with her so we have to pick out all the right stuff,” he explained. :We have to get the proper buns, the proper wieners. It’s very important. All beef wieners for the chili dog cooking. It’s a ritual. So, we’re eating chili dogs in pajamas, and so it’s special anytime you can come up with fun traditions and hold true to them. Yeah, so cooking chili dogs in a onesie is pretty special.”
Bryan said that, when the kids were younger, they used to “load ‘em up on the tour bus” for a Christmas trip to Georgia, where he grew up, but now it’s easier to just stay in Nashville.
“We’ve had a lot of Christmases here, the kids are getting a little older, but they still get excited about running down the stairs Christmas morning.” he said, revealing another favorite holiday tradition.
“We tape up a bunch of, in our hallway, we tape up a bunch of wrapping paper and they kind of run through the wrapping paper like a football team to see all the presents and stuff, so it’s fun,” he said.
Luke Bryan Says He Cherishes Time at Home During the Holidays, Especially After Busy Year
Bryan has had an especially busy year on the road as well as hosting the CMA Awards again in November, filming “American Idol” — including Hollywood Week earlier this month, and performing residency shows in Las Vegas.
““I guess what gets me in the Christmas spirit is coming home and the house is decorated, and the tree is up and all the lights, all the lights are on,” he told UMG about coming home for the holidays. Doing ‘American Idol,’ I spend about 10 days of December in L.A. taping, so when I leave L.A., get home, it’s like my time to really settle into Christmas and enjoy the holidays with family.”
In June, he told “Entertainment Tonight” that his work-life balance was not great.
“I’m not really balancing it that well this year,” he said, adding that he admitted as much to his wife of 16 years, Caroline Boyer. “I’m like, ‘Baby, this is a rough year, let’s just get through it and then we’ll find a boat and go to the Caribbean or something.’”
No word on whether a trip like that is waiting under the Christmas tree, but Bryan told UMG he’ll never forget receiving his favorite present from Caroline.
“By far the best Christmas present I have ever gotten and will ever get was when my wife Caroline went and found my brother’s old pickup truck from 1996,” he recalled. “They found the VIN number and it was down in Louisiana and it was still on the road. And her and my dad went down, they picked it up, brought it to Nashville and Christmas Eve night pulled into the driveway with it. And let’s just say that yes, the tears were flowing and it will never be topped.”
“I don’t know how you’ll ever top it,” he continued. “What an amazing moment for me and my family and it was pretty special. And that truck is when we do our turkey hunting; it’s the turkey hunting truck. So, all my turkey hunting gear stays in there, and when the boys see me pull up in my brother’s truck they know we’re fixing to go turkey hunting.”
Shortly after Christmas, Bryan will return to Vegas for six shows at Resorts World Las Vegas between December 29 and January 6, including a New Year’s Eve show.