Just because a country artist is successful, that doesn’t leave them immune to heartaches and struggles. In fact, some country artists have endured unbelievable challenges, but still continue to make music. We found four country artists who have endured unbelievable tragedies.
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George Strait
George Strait and his wife Norma experienced every parent’s worst nightmare in 1986, when their 13-year-old daughter Jenifer was killed in a car accident. Jenifer was riding with 18-year-old Gregory Allen when he was speeding and rolled the car.
Jenifer was killed on impact, and Wilson was charged with a Class A misdemeanor. The devastating loss also meant the end of media interviews for Strait, who stopped doing them after his daughter passed away.
“I just didn’t feel like talking about it, so I quit…I did want to keep singing, absolutely,” Strait explains to The New Yorker. “But I was at the point where I’m [like], ‘All right, if this is going to cost me my career, then so be it. But it’s the only way I’m going to be able to cope with it.’ It just kind of turned out the way it did. It wasn’t an intentional thing.”
In 2005, Strait released “You’ll Be There,” a song that he says makes him think of his daughter.
Reba McEntire
In 1991, Reba McEntire tragically lost seven band members, plus her tour manager, in a plane crash. McEntire had performed a private show for IBM in San Diego and was flying home on a different plane.
“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to continue,” McEntire later tells People. “But it showed me how precious life is, and by the grace of God and my faith, I realized that they went on to a better place.”
Later that year, McEntire released her For My Broken Heart album, dedicating it to the eight lives lost.
Craig Morgan
Craig Morgan’s son, Jerry Greer, tragically passed away in 2016 in an accidental drowning. Greer was tubing on Kentucky Lake when he went under the water and never resurfaced. Heartbreakingly, Morgan pulled his son out of the water.
“I talked to the sheriff and made a deal,” Morgan recalls to People. “We’d leave, which would make things easier for him. When they actually found Jerry, they would allow me and Karen to be there when he was recovered. ‘You have to promise me,’ I told him. ‘I’m his daddy, and it’s my responsibility to get him out.’ The sheriff agreed.”
In 2019, Morgan had a No. 1 hit with “The Father, My Son, And The Holy Ghost”, written about the loss of Greer.
Granger Smith
In 2019, Granger Smith’s son, River, drowned in the Smith family’s pool. Smith, who was outside with his children at the time, admits he felt overwhelming guilt over River’s accidental death.
“I have to give credit to Amber, because I was the one in the backyard when (River) went into the pool,” Smith tells NBC, speaking of his wife. “Easily, at any moment, she could have said: ‘How could you have turned your back on our baby?’ And if she did, just once, that would have put a slice in my soul that was irreparable — but she didn’t.”
In 2023, Smith announced that he was pursuing a career in ministry.
Photo by Erika Goldring/WireImage
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