'Alaskan Bush People': Matt Brown Breaks Silence on Dad Billy's Death

Alaskan Bush People star and family patriarch Billy Brown died suddenly in early February after experiencing a seizure. Weeks after his passing, Billy's eldest son, Matt Brown, broke his silence on his father's death, as ScreenRant reported. On Feb. 19, Matt published a video in which he spoke at length about his father and thanked all of his fans for their support amid this difficult time.

Matt captioned the video by writing, "Hi friends, In loving memory of my Dad Billy B Brown. Thank you all so much for your loving words of kindness and prayers they mean so much!" In the video, Matt revealed that he and his father were actually on the outs at some point prior to his passing. But, he noted that he was able to "reconcile" with him before his death. Matt appeared to get choked up during the video as he spoke about Billy's death. He told his fans that his dad passed away at his home surrounded by his family, which is "how he would have wanted it." He went on to say that Billy's death, understandably, "hit me hard."

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"Here now in my grief, I realized that I'm not the only person that's lost somebody recently," Matt continued. "All over the world people have experienced loss over this past year, a lot of it, too much of it ... Loss hurts, and so does grief. And the one thing that I know for sure about grief is that it's best not to do it alone. So, I want you to know that at night, when I'm missing my dad and I say a little prayer for him, that I'm including you and yours, too."

Matt's brother, Bear Brown, was the one first to announce the news of Billy's death to fans. On Instagram, Bear wrote, alongside a photo of his father and his mother, Ami Brown, "We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved patriarch Billy Brown passed away last night after suffering from a seizure." He added, "He was our best friend — a wonderful and loving dad, granddad and husband and he will be dearly missed. He lived his life on his terms, off the grid and off the land and taught us to live like that as well. We plan to honor his legacy going forward, and to continue with his dream."