Break out the booties: country music is experiencing a baby boom
Country music stars will have lots to sing about as Nashville prepares for the arrival of numerous babies with famous families. These artists won’t be singing the blues, but that will be the prevailing color with a significantly higher percentage of boys than girls expected in the coming months.
Several of the expecting celebrity parents are already close friends, so high profile play dates can’t be far behind.
Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and his wife Hayley thought they were having a son, but the blood test was wrong and it turns out they are having a girl. Their friends Thomas Rhett and his wife, Lauren, are also expecting a girl any day now after adopting their daughter, Willa Gray, from Uganda earlier this year; and Jason Aldean and his wife Brittany, are expecting their first child together, a son. (Aldean has two daughters from a previous marriage.)
Hubbard is pleased with the timing of the baby bonanza and having a ready crew of future playmates for his daughter close at hand. He recently told Rare Country, “It definitely seems like perfect timing. To have friends and people that we’re close to also having kids, and just have somebody we can relate to and connect with and hang out on the playgrounds [with]. I think you’re going to see all of us country music singers walking around the parks here [in Nashville] pretty soon with our strollers, so get ready for that.”
The Hubbards will have lots of company. In addition to the baby bundles mentioned, Brantley Gilbert and his wife, Amber, are expecting their first child, a little boy; “The Voice” winner Craig Wayne Boyd and his wife Taylor are expecting a boy, his third child and their second together; and former “American Idol” finalist Casey James and his wife Kellie are expecting their second child. They broke the news with a photo of their adorable daughter reading “What To Expect When You’re Expecting,” with the cover doctored to read, “What To Expect When Your Mommy’s Expecting.”
And that’s not all. Rodney Atkins and Rose Falcon are expecting their first child together (he also has a son from an earlier marriage), and Clay Walker and his wife Jessica are waiting for baby number four. (Walker also has two teenage daughters from a previous marriage.)
Whatever the due date or number of offspring, fans are eager to share the details and excitement with the stars. Despite the name of his recent No. 1 hit, “My Girl” singer Dylan Scott and his wife Blair are expecting a boy, and just revealed to Dayton, Ohio, radio station WHKO that they are planning to name him Beckett.
That’s nine babies, and if you count recent deliveries the number jumps well into the double digits. Country stars who have already welcomed new arrivals this year include Lee Brice and wife Sara who has their first girl, Trulee Nanette (they have two sons); Ashley Monroe who welcomed first child Dalton William into the world with her husband, pro baseball player John Danks; Justin and Kate Moore, who welcomed their fourth child and first son, Thomas South; Dan + Shay’s Shay Mooney and fiancée Hannah Billingsley who had their first child, Asher; and a long list of others that includes Randy Rogers, Mo Pitney, Love & Theft’s Stephen Barker Liles, Holly Williams and Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman and her husband Steven, who adopted infant Dolly Grace earlier this year. With two kids now on the road with them, the Schlapmans moved into their own tour bus this year, after previously sharing one with Little Big Town band mate Phillip Sweet and his family.
For country stars, a baby on board means they not only have to build nurseries at home, but often on their busses as well. FGL’s Hubbard said he and his wife are slowly getting theirs prepared. “We’re in the process,” he told Rare Country of plans for their home nursery. “We at least know which room it’s going to be. We’re kind of taking our time, but knowing it’s going to be here before we know it.”
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