Eric Church Opens Up About Losing His Brother And The Call From Vince Gill That Helped Him Heal

Eric Church’s life changed forever in 2018 when his brother Brandon suddenly died. In the weeks that followed, he was in a very vulnerable state, struggling to make sense of it all, but then he received a call from country legend Vince Gill who offered him a perspective on the situation that he would never forget.

The North Carolina native’s brother died at age 36 on Friday, June 29, 2018. According to an autopsy report obtained from TMZ, Brandon suffered two seizures, one of which led to cardiac arrest. Many of his health issues were reportedly tied to years of alcohol use, which had damaged his heart and liver, and left him with a history of seizures triggered by alcohol withdrawal.

During an appearance on the CNN Podcast All There Is with Anderson Cooper, Church opened up about this tragedy and how it impacted his life.

“When my brother died, I didn’t comprehend that it’s never going to be the same again — with my parents, with their relationship, with the whole family, the family dynamic. When my brother died, I wasn’t prepared for that part,” he admits.

He went on to recall a conversation he had with Gill shortly just a few days after the loss. The pair of artists had met before, but they weren’t close friends at the time. Gill could relate to what Church was going through as he had unfortunately also lost his own brother, Bob Gill, to a heart attack in 1993. While sharing their stories of grief, the Grand Ole Opry member offered some guidance to Church that has stuck with him to this day.

“I didn’t really know Vince very well. I’d met him. And he actually was the first one that said to me, he said, ‘You don’t understand this now, but you’re never going to be the same. Your mom and dad are never going to be the same. Your sister’s never going to be the same. Y’all are never going to be the same as a unit. Nothing’s ever going to be the same. And the quicker you understand that, the better you’ll deal with it.’”

The “Hands of Time” singer explained that at the time, he wasn’t quite able to grasp what Gill was telling him. Eventually, he came to understand just what those powerful words meant and realized that he spoke nothing but the truth in that moment.

“I was sitting there thinking, well, it was grief. We’ve always been the family. But looking back on it…he’s exactly right. It never is the same. When something like that happens, it changes everything. And it becomes a new normal,” Church added.

The critically acclaimed country star and his brother always shared a love for music. They started off in a band together, and then once Church embarked on his solo career, his brother became a huge supporter. Brandon is even credited on at least two of Church’s songs: “How ‘Bout You” and “Without You Here.”

All these years later, Church says that he might not have ever gotten to this point if it weren’t for Brandon’s encouragement during the difficult moments of his musical journey.

“When I came to Nashville, like any experience for a young artist and Nashville songwriter, it’s tough. You think you’re really good, I would say this to any artist out there: you think you’re really good till you get to Nashville and you see what really good looks like. And I went through a couple of years of trying to make it and it wasn’t working.”

He revealed that one night, he was feeling extra defeated and was ready to throw in the towel and give up on Music City all together. First, he called his brother, who ended up doing everything in his power to make sure that Church didn’t give up on himself.

“He said, ‘What’s going on?’ I said, ‘Man, it’s not gonna work.’ I said, ‘I feel like life’s passing me by. I feel like all my friends and everybody back there is moving on with their life. They’re getting married, they’re doing this stuff. I’m out here treading water,’ right? And the next day he showed up in Nashville. We drove and I had a one-bedroom apartment,” he recalled. “He slept on my foldout couch for a year, just to keep me there. And he just moved in and we found our own rhythm and our own life, but he wouldn’t let me go. He said, ‘No, you’re not. You don’t come here. I’ll come to you.’  And he moved out and it kept me in town.”

A year of living together changed everything. Slowly, Church began to see movement in his dreams, and looking back, he realizes just how pivotal that support was.

 “I don’t tell a lot of people that, but I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him doing that, because that was an ultimate commitment. He dropped everything where he was and said, ‘Pack a bag, I’ll sleep on your couch.’ And that’s what he did.”

Losing his brother was obviously a major moment in Eric Church’s life. Since then, he has witnessed several other losses and tragedies. Church not only opened up to Anderson Cooper about his brother’s death but also about the grief he dealt with after the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting and the 2023 Covenant School tragedy, which hit especially close to home since his own children attended school nearby.

This conversation found Church opening up in a way he doesn’t often do publicly, while reflecting on how loss has changed the way he views life, family, and the world around him.