Country Singer and Wife Welcome Baby Boy: ‘Happy and Healthy’

Country singer Kolby Cooper and his wife Jillian have announced they’ve welcomed a “happy and healthy” baby boy to their family. Already parents to two daughters — Charlee, 2, and Josie, 4 — the couple revealed that their first son, Karter Brian Haze Cooper, was born on Thursday, Jan. 19. Baby Karter came into the world weighing 8 lbs., 15 oz. and measuring 21½ inches.

“Jillian and Karter are both happy and healthy,” the couple told PEOPLE in an exclusive statement. “We are so overwhelmed with all the feelings of bringing a new life into the world We already love little man so much. Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes!” Additionally, Cooper shared the very personal meaning behind the infant’s name, revealing, “We chose Brian because it was my dad’s name. He passed away, so I’ve known since then that I wanted to do this!”

Back in April 2022, PopCulture.com had a chance to speak with Cooper and he told us that, while country music is his “first love,” his late father just barely edges out Waylon Jennings as “one of my biggest inspirations.” Cooper added, “He didn’t sing or play music or anything, but he had a passion for music. He just, he loved it and it was a thing that we really bonded over.”

Cooper continued, “I remember as a kid, he drove a cow truck, so I’d ride with him the cow truck. My all-time favorite is Waylon Jennings. I got the tattoo right here. And as a kid. I remember we would listen to… He had this CD folder, obviously, of just a thousand CDs and had every Waylon CD. And we would just listen to Waylon and Chris LeDoux, and some Texas guys like Randy Rogers and Charlie Robinson and Cross Canadian Ragweed just for hours on the road. And that was just it. We’d just sit there and talk a little bit and then just listen to music that we loved and that’s kind of how we bonded. So I think a lot of that.”

While country music was what stuck most, Cooper also revealed that his father also helped cultivate his love for rock by introducing him to the inimitable “Prince of Darkness,” Ozzy Osbourne. “I got a little bit older and got into… My dad bought me the Ozzy Osbourne No More Tears album…. with ‘Mama I’m Coming Home, and it was the first rock record that really… I was like, ‘Holy S—!. What is this?” I was in fourth grade when I got it. And I remember I had the little like Walkman CD player whatever, and just would have it in the classroom and when we had free time and listen to Ozzy. It’s a little weird. Fourth-grader listening to No More Tears. It’s crazy, dude.”