In the days after his sister Kelly’s death in 2007, Luke Bryan says he was “not processing [the grief] well.”
But when he went to view her body at the funeral home, he had a moment that changed everything—and allowed him to be a source of strength for the rest of his grieving family.
In fact, he says it was one of the most powerful spiritual experiences of his life.
“One of the most amazing situations I’ve ever had happen to me [happened on] the morning of her funeral,” he recounts in a new appearance on CNN’s All There Is podcast with Anderson Cooper.
Bryan woke up dreading the trip to the funeral home, but when he walked in, he was hit by a feeling more powerful than any he’d experienced before.
“I’m a pretty spiritual guy, and I’m pretty grounded in my belief in Christ and Christianity. And I would say it was the first time in my life I felt a spirit of another world take away my burden in that room,” he shares.
READ MORE: 11 Country Songs That Mention Jesus by Name
The singer believes his sister’s presence was there with him that day, giving him the strength to move forward.
“It was almost like a pressure valve released … It was truly like she set me free in that room,” Bryan remembers.
“My mother did not have that experience … I think I was the only one in the family that had that experience, but I really had it,” he adds.
How Did Luke Bryan Help His Family in Their Grief?
Feeling that relief from his own pain allowed Bryan to focus on taking care of the rest of his family, including his brother-in-law Ben Lee Cheshire, who went by Lee.
READ MORE: Luke Bryan Clears Up ‘Misinformation’ About How His Sister Died
“I think it allowed for me to focus on her husband Lee. And it allowed me to focus on her children, and it freed me up in that level to get to work on doing what we needed to do for the family,” Bryan reflects.
How Did Luke Bryan Care for His Sister’s Children After She Died?
Kelly left behind three children when she died; the youngest of those was 3-year-old son Til.
During his podcast appearance, Bryan recounts the first conversation he had with his two nieces—Kelly’s oldest children—after her death.
“I just kept screaming I was sorry to them. They were too little at the time to understand that I was telling them ‘Sorry’ because I couldn’t believe … that they were gonna have to go through this life without the beautiful human being that she was,” he remembers.
READ MORE: Country Artists Who Suffered Unthinkable Tragedies
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the last major tragedy Kelly’s children would suffer.
Seven years after her death, their father—Bryan’s brother-in-law—died of a heart attack. Bryan and his wife Caroline would go on to adopt all three children, raising them alongside their own two sons.
How Did Luke Bryan’s Parents Cope With Their Daughter’s Death?
Bryan says he found “peace” in the wake of his sister’s death.
But his mother LeClaire struggled to find any form of closure, and still wrestles with grief to this day, the singer explains.
The singer’s parents went though losses no parent should have to bear. Years before Kelly’s death, they had to bury another child—Bryan’s older brother Chris—who died in a car accident in 1996. He was just 26 years old at the time.
“I mean, watching my parents go through this twice is just not fair,” Bryan says.
“My mother is a very, very emotional person. And she grieves their loss way different than my dad. My dad grieves as Southern gentlemen do, you know,” he continues.
READ MORE: 23 Tragic Country Music Deaths
“My mother, it’s forever changed how she walks through life. And it’s stuff that she and I really talk about weekly, when she calls me, and having bad days,” Bryan explains.
The singer also rejects the idea of finding closure over a loss this vast.
“You’re just never going to arrive back to where it was when they were here. You just have to learn to understand that it’s a normal emotion that your life will never be the same,” he says.
“I live every day going, ‘True pieces of my heart and soul and mind were taken, never to be given back,'” Bryan adds.
The 50 All-Time Best Luke Bryan Songs, Ranked
Luke Bryan’s massive catalog of songs perfectly walk the line between heartfelt and fun. Here are our 50 favorite hits and deep cuts.
Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak