Luke Bryan’s 2 Kids: All About Sons Bo and Tate
The country singer has two children: Thomas “Bo” Boyer and Tatum “Tate” Christopher
Luke Bryan is in the “golden years” of fatherhood.
The country singer is the proud father of two boys — Thomas “Bo” Boyer Bryan, 17, and Tatum “Tate” Christopher Bryan, 14 — whom he shares with his wife Caroline Bryan. According to Luke, this current stage with his sons is proving to be one of the most exciting so far.
“As they grow older, it’s easier to let them tag along,” Luke told PEOPLE in July 2021. “They become little men and they become functional little microcosms of me. Their personalities are really different … They become your buddies. I mean, they’re still your kids, you still have to do the discipline and you still have to teach them the right and wrongs of life, but they really morph into your buddies.”
The American Idol judge continued, “And I’m certainly in the golden years. I mean, it’s like the sweet spot of being a dad right now and you can let them tag along.”
During a November 2024 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Luke said that his dream now that his sons are teenagers is that his music will “enter into their daily playlist,” especially when it comes to his 2024 album, Mind of a Country Boy.
In addition to Thomas and Tatum, Luke and Caroline also helped raise their nephew, Tilden Cheshire, and nieces, Jordan and Kris Cheshire, following their parents’ deaths. Luke’s sister, Kelly Bryan Cheshire, died of undetermined causes in 2007; seven years later, his brother-in-law Ben Cheshire died of a heart attack. Tilden went to live with Luke and Caroline and their family, and while their nieces did not live with the Bryans full-time, they became a closer part of the family.
“We get to live with Kelly through her children, and we see so many things in her children that remind us of her,” Luke told PEOPLE in 2021. He added, “As a family, we really try to do good to just remember the beauty of the people we lost and not dwell on the fact that they’re not in our lives daily.”
Here’s everything to know about about Luke Bryan’s kids: Bo and Tate.
Thomas “Bo” Boyer Bryan, 17
Luke and Caroline welcomed their first son, Thomas “Bo” Boyer Bryan, on March 18, 2008, in Nashville. Thomas is his father’s first name (Luke’s full name is Thomas Luther Bryan) and Boyer is his mom Caroline’s maiden name.
“I’m over the moon! Everyone is doing great! My fishing buddy is finally here! I thought being on stage was an amazing feeling, but there is nothing that can top watching my wife bring our son into this world. There is no way I would have missed this for anything,” the “Play It Again” singer shared in a statement at the time.
Bo has had a close relationship with his older cousin Tilden. When the Bryan family took Til in after his parents’ deaths, the two grew even closer with Luke remarking that a then-6-year-old Bo became Til’s mini-me and a “nagging little brother.”
In 2018, Luke was asked what he was most proud of when it came to his kids while attending the iHeartRadio Music Festival. “How [they’ve carved a] path toward being gentlemen and gentlemanly boys,” he told reporters.
He also said his sons were “different” than he was at their age.
“They come home and sit down, they do their homework and I’m like, ‘I didn’t do that when I was a kid.’ They’re just well-rounded kids,” he explained. “Learning farm life and how to live on a farm and do outdoor things, but they’ve also come with me and been on set of American Idol and to these big cities and watched me do Dodgers Stadium and [have seen] the whole world and have a nice perception of it.”
However, their dad’s fame doesn’t “faze” them. “I wouldn’t say it gives me any more cool points. As long as I can play with them in the yard or wrestle with them on the floor, that’s pretty much all they’re concerned with,” Luke once told PEOPLE.
On Bo’s 15th birthday, his mom shared a sweet birthday tribute on Instagram. She shared a selfie of the mother-son duo, a throwback photo of Bo as a kid and a video of Luke hilariously waking Bo up in bed by jumping on him while playing birthday music. She captioned the post: “My once tiny baby is officially 15!!! I might need to be medicated this next year teaching him to drive. 😬 We love you sweet Bo!!! ❤️.”
During a June 2023 appearance on Audacy’s Katie & Company podcast, Luke spoke about teaching Bo how to drive.
“He’s very frustrated right now because he thinks he knows how to drive, but he has no idea what he’s doing,” he explained. “He thinks because he can operate a 4-wheeler or Polaris that he is quite proficient, but he is not, I assure you.”
Tatum “Tate” Christopher Bryan, 14
The couple welcomed their second son, Tatum “Tate” Christopher Bryan, on Aug. 11, 2010, in Nashville.
The proud dad confirmed the happy news to PEOPLE and said in a statement: “All I ever hoped for was one boy and to have two, it’s going to be fun. I’ve already got new fishing spots picked out for us.” He also said that Tate looked “pretty much like a carbon copy of Bo.”
Of his second son’s moniker, Luke previously told The Boot in 2010, “Tatum is a guy from my hometown, and then my brother’s name was Chris. So then we’ll have Bo and Tate — sounds like two little rednecks!” Luke’s brother Chris died at age 26 in a car crash.
Like his older Bo, Tate grew close with his older cousin Tilden when Luke and Caroline took him in. “Tate sleeps with Til every night,” Bryan told PEOPLE in 2021. Tate was just 4 years old when he and Bo “woke up and they had a big brother.”
Along with his brother, Tate has enjoyed plenty of father-son fishing trips with his dad over the years, just as Luke had planned. In February 2022, Tate caught his first 10 lb fish, an accomplishment that took his dad 45 years to do. Luke shared the exact moment they weighed the fish and found out on Instagram, and Tate can be seen jumping up and down in excitement.
Tate also appears to have a cheeky sense of humor. On his 12th birthday in August 2022, Caroline shared a series of photos of her youngest, including some shots of Tate making silly faces.
She captioned the tribute: “My baby. He’s 12 today … he put the “ass” in sarcasm … no wonder he’s my shadow. He’s my Thunder Buddy and acts just like me…Sorry you got my genes Tate! I love you! Happy birthday Tot! 💙.”