It Was Love At First Sight For Luke Bryan And His Wife Caroline
Luke Bryan and his wife Caroline have known each other since their college days at Georgia Southern University. He was…
Luke Bryan and Caroline Boyer; Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for CMT
Luke Bryan and his wife Caroline have known each other since their college days at Georgia Southern University. He was a senior, she was a freshman and they hit it off after meeting at a small bar called Dingus Magee’s.
Things started off slowly.
“He was always a gentleman,” Caroline gushed to People. “We hung out as friends first and he never made a move on me. I kissed him first!”
They dated on and off and later called it quits when Luke moved to Nashville to chase his dreams of becoming a country singer. As fate would have it, their paths crossed again a few years later.
“I was playing a little bar in Statesboro and she just happened to kinda be in town. We kinda saw each other and talked a little bit and then started emailing back and forth a little bit,” he recalled. “And she was like, ‘Hey, you want to come to my family’s Christmas party?’ I went to the party and the rest is history.”
Bryan asked for Caroline’s hand in marriage in front of the Parthenon in Nashville one evening after a dinner date.
“We kind of been talking about houses and stuff and I told her I had a house I wanted her to see. So, that’s what she thought she’s gonna do,” he told country radio personality Michael J. “When she took the blindfold off, I was down on one knee.”
The couple opted for a destination wedding, which took place in Turks & Caicos on December 8, 2006.
Less than two months later, Bryan’s very first single, “All My Friends Say,” hit country radio. Although it was a hit, the budding singer/songwriter relied on his wife to help make ends meet.
“When we got married, her career supported me when I was making about $10,000 a year,” he once revealed during an appearance on Pickler & Ben. “She was the one bringing in the dough.”
That didn’t last for long. Bryan soon became one of country music’s hottest stars, raking in hit after hit. His rise to superstardom soon allowed Caroline to stay at home with their boys, Thomas “Bo” Boyer (born in 2008) and Tatum “Tate” Christopher (born in 2010).
As time passed, they learned to roll with Bryan’s crazy schedule and adapt to his celebrity status.
“We have fun with this career, we have fun with our kids,” he told The Boot. “We have a normal marriage. We get into it, we fight, we figure it out, but at the end of the day, we understand that there’s a lot of stuff that comes at us that makes us all crazy, too, so we just try to be normal and enjoy the ride of this.”
From the outside, it seems as if the couple has enjoyed a picture-perfect life, but that’s far from the case. Bryan has faced many family tragedies over the years and Caroline has been by his side through the majority of them.
“Luke’s brother died in 1996. Then 13 years ago, his sister passed away unexpectedly. She was healthy, beautiful, and the best mom to ever walk this earth,” Caroline recalled during an interview on the Get Real podcast.
She went on to reflect on the day Luke’s brother-in-law passed away. “That was the other worst day of our life,” she confessed.
That’s when the couple stepped up to the plate and took in their nieces and nephew.
“We never thought twice about it,” Caroline later told Robin Roberts. “You know, it was never something that he and I had to sit down and talk about. ‘Should we take this on?’ We just did that.”
They’ve done their best to make the most out of the situation and hope their story will inspire others.
“We feel like if we just stay positive through this, maybe we’ll be a positive inspiration for people that had these things happen to ’em,” Bryan told ABC News in 2015. “You just have to plow on and play the hand that’s dealt.”
Luke and Caroline always seem to have fun together and have become of country music’s most beloved couples. Fans can follow their hilarious antics on Instagram at @linabryan3 and @lukebryan.
Lauren Jo Black is a longtime country music journalist, editor, host, and media personality whose work has helped shape the conversation around country music for nearly two decades. As the current Editor-in-Chief of Country Now, she has become one of the genre’s most respected voices, interviewing hundreds of country music’s biggest stars, including Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, Randy Travis, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, and countless others. Over the course of her career, Black’s written work and interviews have reached billions of country music fans worldwide. A 2009 graduate of the University of Central Florida, Black began her career by founding Country Music Is Love, one of country music’s earliest independent digital publications, which she later sold to a major record label in 2015 before it was rebranded as Sounds Like Nashville. She then served as the publication’s Editor-in-Chief for more than two years. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, and she previously served as the Country Music Expert for Answers.com. Widely recognized for her expertise, Black has appeared as a featured guest on The Bobby Bones Show, BobbyCast, and Scripps News Morning Rush, providing insight on country music’s biggest moments. She has also hosted Country Now Live, a concert series featuring performances from artists including Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Riley Green, Jordan Davis, Dustin Lynch, Gabby Barrett, Brett Young, Jon Pardi, Kip Moore, Chris Young, and more. The series has welcomed thousands of fans in person while reaching millions more online. In addition, she hosted Connect With Country Now, a weekly interview series featuring conversations with rising country stars. Throughout her career, Black has earned a reputation for discovering and championing artists long before they become household names. She has covered Luke Bryan since the early days of his career, beginning when he was writing songs for other artists, including Billy Currington’s No. 1 hit “Good Directions,” before stepping into the spotlight with his debut single, “All My Friends Say” and eventually becoming one of biggest names in music. She also gave Megan Moroney her first opportunity to walk a major red carpet as Country Now’s official guest correspondent at the 2022 CMA Awards. An interview she conducted in 2018 for Forbes.com with Luke Combs that inspired his multi-week No. 1 hit, “Doin’ This.” She has also hosted stages at CMA Fest, moderated an industry panel at Country Radio Seminar, and helped lead important conversations about the evolving landscape of country music media. Beyond journalism, Black has also used her platform to support charitable causes and highlight organizations making an impact. Through Country Now Live, she has helped raise awareness and support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, while also advocating for animal rescue through Country Now’s Pupdate series, spotlighting organizations including MuttNation Foundation, Wags & Walks, and Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue. Black has been recognized as one of Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. She is a longtime member of both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM). After nearly 20 years covering country music, Lauren Jo Black has spent her career telling the stories behind the artists, songs, and moments that have shaped the genre. Her first-ever book, Country Music Forever: An A-to-Z Celebration of Icons, Songs and Stories, brings that same passion and firsthand knowledge to the page, celebrating not only the legendary artists and timeless songs that have become the soundtrack to generations of fans, but also the places, traditions, and cultural moments that have made country music one of the most beloved genres around the world.
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