Granger Smith and Wife Amber Welcome Baby Boy Two Years After Tragic Loss of Son River

Country singer Granger Smith and his wife Amber Smith welcomed a baby boy on Friday, two years after the tragic death of their son River. Their new baby boy, Maverick Beckham Smith, joins two older siblings, sister London, 9, and brother Lincoln, 7. River died in a drowning accident at Smith’s Texas home in June 2019. He was 3 years old.

“He’s here! Wow…so many emotions. Maverick Beckham Smith made his debut today. He and [Amber] are doing great,” Smith, 41, wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of Amber and Maverick in a hospital bed. In just three hours, over 100,000 Instagram users liked the post, while other musicians were quick to congratulate Smith. “Congratulations brother,” Jaden Hamilton wrote. “Congrats buddy,” Chris Lane added.

The Smiths announced they were expecting another baby in March by sharing an emotional clip on Instagram. “If I’ve learned anything over the last 2 years, it’s that I do not have as much control as I think I do,” Amber wrote in a caption accompanying the video. “Never did I think at 39 I would be blessed with expecting another baby boy. These past couple of years have been so rough but also so full of so much joy, hope, healing, growing, and grace from God…Lord, I pray that our story can speak life to someone else who may be suffering to never give up hope. To surrender their burdens to you. To trust you even when it hurts.”

Maverick’s name includes a subtle tribute to River, the couple explained in a May YouTube video. They decided their fourth child needed to have “Riv” included in his first name, without him being “so tied to River,” Amber explained. So, they chose Maverick, which has all three of those letters. If their baby was a girl, they were going to go with Everleigh, which also includes the letters R, I, and V. Still, Smith noted that Maverick will “forever be connected to his big brother Riv,” so it was “important that his name is too,” Amber also noted that Maverick means “independent and non-conforming,” while Backham also means “home by the river.”

In June 2019, Smith announced that River died in a drowning accident at his home. The Smiths donated his organs, which helped save the lives of two people. In an interview with PopCulture around the release of his album Country Things, Vol. 1, Smith said he might write a song about River’s death in the future. He said River’s death impacted “more of the mentality” of the album.

“Definitely the mentality was good for the healing process,” he told PopCulture at the time. “Music has always been a huge healing component for me before anyone ever listened to songs that I wrote. It was always a way to either express words as in a diary or just to kind of forget about the pressures of the world and be really lighthearted about it.”