Luke Bryan Performs ‘Build Me a Daddy’ on ‘The Tonight Show’

Luke Bryan virtually stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday to perform his emotional new song “Build Me a Daddy,” which he initially released on June 12. Bryan performed the song solo, strumming an electric guitar and sitting in front of a microphone in a church, light streaming in through the stained-glass windows next to the star. The heart-wrenching song is narrated by a young boy who has lost his father and reflects on the memories they shared together while asking a toymaker to build him a new dad. The song was written by Jake Mitchell, Josh Thompson and Brett Tyler and will appear on Bryan’s upcoming album Born Here, Live Here, Die Here, which will be released on Aug. 7.

“There are people out there who are going to really, really relate to this song and it’s going to affect them in a beautiful way,” Bryan wrote on Instagram ahead of the song’s release, adding, “[Build Me A Daddy] tells the story of a boy and his dad in a beautiful and emotional way. I hope this song and this story touches you, in the same way, it touched me.” He also posted a short clip of the song on Twitter on Wednesday and wrote, “I’ve played this song for a lot of my hardcore buddies and it chokes them up. I think that’s the beauty of country music, to really make you feel emotional.”

In a video on his Instagram Story, Bryan told fans that after he heard the song, he “knew” it had to be on his new album. “Certainly being a dad, it really touched me in a special way,” he said. “Country music is certainly about storytelling and this song does such a great job of telling the story.”

“Build Me a Daddy” was released around one week before Father’s Day, and Bryan celebrated the holiday by sharing a photo of his own dad on social media on Sunday. “Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there today. Especially mine,” he captioned the black-and-white snap. “Love ya Daddy.” Bryan also received a tribute post from his wife, Caroline Bryan, who shared a slideshow of photos of her husband with their two sons, Bo and Tate, their two nieces, Jordan and Kris, and their nephew, Til. “Happy Father’s Day Love Bug. Today is your day…you can fish and golf all you want and I can’t get mad,” Caroline wrote. “We all love you to the moon and back.”