Luke Bryan Is in ‘the Golden Years’ of Parenting His Two Sons

Luke Bryan is dad to two sons, Bo, 13, and Tate, 10, and the country star is currently enjoying some of his most special years of parenting yet. In a new interview with PEOPLE, Bryan explained why he considers this time his “golden years” of being a father, sharing that as his sons grow up, “it’s easier to let them tag along.”

“They become little men and they become functional little microcosms of me. Their personalities are really different,” he said. “… 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.” “And I’m certainly in the golden years,” Bryan added. “I mean, it’s like the sweet spot of being a dad right now and you can let them tag along.”

Last year, Bryan was home with his family while he was off the road due to the pandemic, and the group got to share a number of experiences that Bryan called “bucket list stuff” during an interview on Live With Kelly and Ryan last summer. “I was like, ‘I had the whole summer off,’ and I’m just doing some bucket list stuff,” he said. “I loaded all of my boys up on my tour bus and we are hitting about ten trout streams out West that I have always wanted to fish with them at.” The Georgia native told ABC News that he had “always envisioned maybe taking a year off from touring, so, hey, why not 2020? That was the year.”

Along with Bo and Tate, Bryan and his wife, Caroline, took in the singer’s nieces, Jordan and Kris, and nephew, Til, after their father, Ben Cheshire died, following the death of their mother, Bryan’s sister Kelly, in 2007. Jordan and Kris are now adults and Til is getting ready for his second year of college, but the family still spends a huge amount of time together. Caroline, Bo, Tate and Til are currently all out on the road with Bryan, who is on his Proud to Be Right Here Tour. During a recent tour stop in Virginia, his family surprised him on stage to celebrate his birthday, giving him some unexpected gifts and serenading him with “Happy Birthday.”